Fixing Healthcare with a Little Help from the Man Upstairs

Yesterday he held a media event to end the ban on one such scheme. A group called "Medi-Share" that former state insurance commissioner John Morrison had shut down as fraud in 2007, after it tried to deny a man coverage for the heart surgery he needed claiming he wasn't abiding by the companies "Christian lifestyle" codes. But now Rosendale has resurrected such schemes as an alternative to allowing Montanans to buy insurance through the exchange or to expanding Medicaid to the working poor. The legal documents in the fraud case disappeared from Rosendale's website, but the internet has a way of making some things hard to delete entirely, and you can see them here. Here's how this works: To join the pyramid you must must pledge your devout Christian faith (and even get a reference from a minister). You must not drink, take drugs or have sex outside of a "traditional" marriage. Pre-existing conditions make you ineligible to participate at all, although one does get the benefit of a "prayer chain." The coverage doesn't include products of "un-Biblical lifestyles," such as contraception or substance use rehabilitation–or preventive care like PAP tests, colonoscopies and mammograms.

Here are some of things HB652 would give Rosendale the power to do by allowing him to propose to waive certain ACA provisions in MT, pending Trump's appointees' approval: Stop requiring employers to provide health coverage; Gut standards for what benefits a basic health insurance policy had to cover – like eliminate coverage for pregnancy or mammograms, or mental health care. (The MTGOP's actions today to kill Montana's Mental Health Parity Bill appear to be a clear indication of what Rosendale wants.); He could make fewer people eligible for tax credits, thereby restricting eligibility to far lower levels, or increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs, he could even collect all of the federal money – the subsidies for premiums, the subsidies for co-pays, and the tax credits for small businesses – that Montanans are currently helped by in total, and put the money into financing coverage "his own way." Given how proud he is to welcome a scheme that had previously been shut down as fraud – such thoughts are frightening.

The bill includes a stand-your-ground provision and the right to carry concealed firearms on state Capitol grounds. Most aspects of the legislation would take effect July 1, but a provision to allow minors younger than 14 to use handguns with parental or guardian supervision would take effect immediately.

House Democrats were in a state of disbelief over the idea that allowing guns into the Statehouse was in any way a good decision. "I think this is a unique building in our state," said Rep. Sharon Steckman, of Mason City. "We have people coming here to visit, very young people. They should come in here feeling safe. Having guns wherever you go is a cost to all of us." The bill's author, Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, has been just as passionate in defending the gun bill, calling it the most monumental piece of Second Amendment legislation ever in Iowa. There is a "concern that we're going to have to start providing more security at the Capitol and more protection simply because we're allowing law-abiding citizens to exercise a fundamental right," Windschitl said. "I don't accept that premise on its face."

Today the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Lubbock, Texas will hear the State of Mississippi's appeal. The Campaign for Southern Equality has taken the lead in opposing the HB1523. Attorney Roberta Kaplan argues the law violates the First Amendment. She contends it promotes anti-gay beliefs not held by all religions in Mississippi and will embolden those with anti-gay sentiments. She used examples from the initial hearing. "We presented testimony about gay men in the Delta, being afraid to go out to dinner together. There was a story that we told about a young kid, a kindergartener, first grader, whose teacher told her in front of the class with all the other kids there that her two moms really weren't married," said Kaplan. Governor Phil Bryant, in a statement, says HB1523 is a good law. He says people of Mississippi have the right to live and work without fear of being punished for their sincerely held beliefs.

After the commission's regular meeting Monday, Chairman Bud Frost told the Tulsa World by telephone that the three commissioners had unanimously selected Richter and that he would be sworn in that afternoon. However, Commissioner Curtis Barnes confirmed early Monday evening that the district judge wouldn't swear in Richter because Richter doesn't live in Nowata County. The District Attorney's Office supported the judge's decision, Barnes said.

Monday's developments were the latest in a saga involving disorder at the Nowata County Sheriff's Office. The county clerk told commissioners in a public meeting on March 13 that she was unable to determine how deep a financial hole the Sheriff's Office was in because the office didn't use "proper accounting procedures." That revelation followed the abrupt resignations of Sheriff Rick Miller, Undersheriff Billy Scott and Jail Administrator Michael Scott within two weeks of each other in late February and early March. Those three were only the latest in a wave of employee exits from the agency, according to records obtained by the Tulsa World. The person ultimately appointed and sworn in as sheriff will serve until voters can elect a sheriff in November 2018 to fill the second half of Miller's four-year term. Richter didn't respond Monday to multiple phone messages seeking his comment on being appointed but not sworn in.

His history includes two arrests in 2012 that were expunged from his record, according to Tulsa Jail records archived by the World. "It was taken care of in the courts, and everything was dismissed at preliminary," Richter told the World during his Tulsa County campaign. "Just because somebody's charged doesn't mean somebody's guilty."