5 things to know about KS Republicans’ veto override of faith-based tax break | Opinion

Kansas Republican lawmakers overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of SB 368, a bill giving tax deductions to participants in health care sharing ministries. An opinion column argues the new law fails to protect Kansans from programs that are unregulated and have faced fraud allegations nationwide.

FULL STORY: Republican override on Kelly’s veto of faith-based bill does not protect Kansans | Opinion

Here are key takeaways:

• The new law allows health care sharing ministry participants to deduct membership fees and money received from the pool for medical expenses — up to $5,000 per person per year or double that for a married couple.
• An estimated 11,000 Kansans participate in these programs. The law could cost the state well over a million dollars a year.
• Health care sharing ministries are not insurance. They are not regulated and not obligated to pay out on claims or cover what standard insurers must cover under federal law, such as preexisting conditions.
• Kelly said in a news release: “These health care ministries aren’t regulated, which opens the door to all sorts of fraud and abuse.” Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson called her veto “ridiculous,” saying the override would “provide relief to Kansas families dealing with high healthcare costs.”
• In 2023, federal officials closed an HCSM operating in Missouri called Medical Cost Sharing that had collected $7.4 million in membership fees over nine years but paid only $246,000 — 3.5% — toward members’ health care bills. Officials said founders put millions into their own bank accounts.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.

This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 11:47 AM.