Free Republic

In the aftermath of Obergefell v. Hodges, pastors and church members are experiencing a wave of anxiety over what many of them deem the “nightmare scenario”: lawsuits or government action designed to force them to perform or recognize same-sex marriages. While there are — so far — no meaningful judicial precedents that would permit such dramatic interference with churches’ core First Amendment rights, lawsuits challenging church liberties are inevitable. Indeed, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has declared that prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity “sometimes” apply to churches and has stated that a “church...

The general liability form does not provide any coverage for this type of situation, since there is no bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, or advertising injury. If a church is concerned about the possibility of a suit, we do offer Miscellaneous Legal Defense Coverage. This is not liability coverage, but rather expense reimbursement for defense costs. There is no coverage for any judgments against an insured.

(CNSNews.com) – The Department of Health and Human Services’ most recent guidelines explaining the “preventive services” mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—or Obamacare—says health insurance plans must provide co-pay-free pap smears and mammograms to “transgender men.” As defined by the federal Office of Personnel Management: “a person assigned the female sex at birth but who identifies as male is a transgender man.” The guidelines, written as a FAQ sheet, state: Q5: Can plans or issuers limit sex-specific recommended preventive services based on an individual's sex assigned at birth, gender identity or recorded gender? No. Whether a sex-specific...

Elephant Auto Insurance will add 1,173 jobs at its Henrico County headquarters and will invest $2 million to expand the operation. Governor Terry McAuliffe announced the expansion today in Cardiff, United Kingdom, where he met with officials from Elephant's parent company, U.K.-based Admiral Group PLD. Elephant which had 365 employees at its headquarters in March, was already in a growth mode. In January the company moved from a 32,000-square-foot office on Eastshore Drive in the Innsbrook Corporate Center to a 54,000-square-foot site in the Deep Run I office building at 9950 Mayland Drive.

Fiscal Responsibility: Now we learn that the Obama administration doesn't know whether billions in subsidies it paid out to insurers were appropriate. Yeah, this law is working just great.

In a new ad for the Affordable Care Act, a woman named Julie Adams explains how the ACA saved her life: “I’ll always remember how affordable health care saved my life,” said Julie Adams. “If Congress tries to take that away, I’ll remember that, too.” The Community Catalyst Action Fundwrote about the ad, saying that “Americans have not had enough opportunity to hear personal stories like Julie’s” and claiming that Julie was able to catch her cancer early because of the ACA. It went on to state that for 20 years before the enactment of the benefits of ACA she lived in fear getting sick and didn’t...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)House Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would require gun owners to carry liability insurance. The Firearm Risk Protection Act, unveiled Friday, would require gun buyers to have liability insurance coverage before being allowed to purchase a weapon, and would impose a fine of $10,000 if an owner is found not to have it. Service members and law enforcement officers, however, would be exempt from the requirement. “We require insurance to own a car, but no such requirement exists for guns," Maloney said in a statement. "The results are clear: car fatalities have declined by 25...

Health Reform: Looks like ObamaCare premiums will skyrocket for many next year. So what do Democrats propose? New insurance mandates that will drive premiums up even higher. Which one is the stupid party again?

In July of 2009, as the Obamacare debate was heating up, Gallup published a survey indicating that 83 percent of Americans wanted health care reform to make their health insurance more affordable. Now, more than five years after the President’s “signature domestic achievement” was passed, health insurance premiums are higher than ever. And it’s obvious that Obamacare is a major driver of the increase. The Wall Street Journal reports that insurers are proposing rate increases ranging from 25 to 51 percent for 2016. Why? “All of them cite high medical costs incurred by people newly enrolled under the Affordable Care....

While premium filings aren’t expected from the federal government until next month, a report from The Wall Street Journal released Thursday provides a snapshot of preliminary 2016 rate filings from health insurance market leaders in 11 states. The figures represent average increases in premiums proposed by the largest carriers in each state that has made requests public. A separate report from the Associated Press notes that the largest carrier in South Dakota has proposed a 42.9 percent increase in premiums in the individual market. Increases are subject to review by the states and will be finalized in the fall.

Despite fury from lawmakers the day before, Colorado’s health exchange board voted on Thursday to collect millions of additional dollars from all Colorado health insurance customers, even those who have nothing to do with the exchange. On top of that “broad market assessment,” the board also voted to more than double the user fees levied on people who buy insurance through Colorado’s exchange. .. The higher broad market fee is projected to allow Connect for Health Colorado to scoop up about about $20 million in 2016. It has been set at $1.25 per member per month on all health insurance...

In a news story titled “Nearly half of Obamacare exchanges are struggling over their future,” The Washington Post reports the following: Nearly half of the 17 insurance marketplaces set up by the states and the District under President Obama’s health law are struggling financially, presenting state officials with an unexpected and serious challenge five years after the passage of the landmark Affordable Care Act. Many of the online exchanges are wrestling with surging costs, especially for balky technology and expensive customer-call centers — and tepid enrollment numbers. To ease the fiscal distress, officials are considering raising fees on insurers, sharing...

With Senate Bill 248 the Michigan Legislature is attempting to address a number of problems with the auto insurance market in the state. Michigan’s no-fault system creates misaligned incentives, resulting in auto insurance rates that are among the highest in the nation. There is also a larger question of why we treat severe injuries from car accidents differently than we treat the similar injuries from other types of accidents. The unlimited personal injury protection provision in the current no-fault system creates an incentive to provide very expensive care, rather than provide affordable and effective treatment aimed at quickly restoring the...

In 49 states, there are basically two options for public health insurance programs: Medicaid for the very poor, and subsidized private health insurance on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges for everyone else. Minnesota is the exception. Unlike every other state, it has a third option in the middle: MinnesotaCare. Created in the 1990s, MinnesotaCare covers people who earn too much money for Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid program) but not enough to qualify for MNsure, the state's health insurance exchange.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration hoped to boost ObamaCare sign-ups by offering a special enrollment period for millions who didn't know about the individual mandate penalty until they filed their taxes. They'd have until the end of April to buy a plan and avoid paying an even bigger ObamaCare penalty when they file taxes next year. At least one outside observer expected as many as 1.2 million to sign up.

Dear XXXXXXX: Thank you for taking the time to contact me about health insurance premiums and the Affordable Care Act. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue. Over the next several years, the Affordable Care Act will extend health insurance coverage to an additional 30 million Americans, ensuring that 95 percent of our Nation has access to quality, affordable care. I recognize that the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, and that some changes may need to be made. However, I believe that this law reflects our Nation’s commitment to ensuring access to health care for all Americans. One...

A Belgian insurance company has refused to insure a Jewish kindergarten in Brussels. The company claimed the risk of a terror attack on the European Jewish Association-run institution was too high. EJA General Director Rabbi Menachem Margolin called on all European governments and heads of European Union institutions to provide security to all Jewish institutions that would satisfy insurance companies, and establish an alternative insurance mechanism that would secure any institution that might fall victim to anti-Semitic attacks.

College professors and students keep suffering unexpected costly ObamaCare side effects. First, colleges started rolling back faculty hours to avoid the employer mandate, a development the American Association of Association of University Professors called "reprehensible." Then Harvard professors complained when the college hiked their insurance costs because of "health care reform." Now colleges are starting to dump their student insurance plans because of ObamaCare.

For the first time, a majority of taxpayers will have to check a box on their tax return attesting they have health insurance either through their job or Medicare or Medicaid. But what happens if they miss it, which can easily happen on the complex form? The Internal Revenue Service told the Washington Examiner it will not penalize anyone who has insurance but neglected to check the box. However, a taxpayer may be asked by the agency if they have health insurance if their return is flagged during a routine check. "The IRS routinely follows-up on the accuracy and completeness...

Franz Kafka lives. Except even this spinner of tales of helpless victims of faceless bureaucracies might not have imagined a situation where a law-abiding citizen faces a fine for failing to take an action his government prohibits him from performing.