The Faithful May Be Able To Opt Out Of ObamaCare; All Others, Not So Fast -- Okay -- Everyone Has Until 2015

[Note: I completely missed this. I was not aware of this. The individual mandate won't be enforced until 2015. Wow. I thought it was going to be enforced in 2014.]

Corporations have been given a one-year delay.

Congress is exempt.

Individuals can ignore the mandate for $95. For the entire year.

So, where does ObamaCare "stand" on August 8, 2013? Folks are either exempt (Congress); waived for one year (corporations); not enforced until 2015 (everyone else). Again, it appears folks are making way too much out of the trainwreck. Lots of time to watch this debacle unfold.

Today we learn a bit more. 

We now learn that members of medical-sharing ministries are exempt. That was true all along. It was simply that no one (except three men) knew about this until now. Ms Pelosi said it herself: we won't know what's in the bill until we read it.

It's gotten little attention, but it's true: The individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act requires all Americans to have health insurance or face penalties, but members of medical-sharing ministries are exempt from the individual mandate that will be enforced beginning in 2015.

It's there because of the work of then-Congressmen Tom Perriello, a Virginia Democrat and Sens. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, who fought to add the exemption to the law. It's the same principle that allowed for the Amish to be exempted from the individual mandate-with the crucial difference that it's a lot more practical to join Medi-Share than it is to become Amish.

Founded in 1993, Medi-Share historically grew at roughly 10 percent a year. Since the Obamacare passed in the 2010, growth has ticked up to 15 percent as some Americans look to end-run the mandate. About 150,000 people are members of medical-sharing ministries, and 60,000 of them belong to Medi-Share, according to Medi-Share President and CEO Tony Meggs.

The exemption requires qualifying health-sharing ministries to have been in operation before Dec. 31,1999, which gives something of a monopoly to Medi-Share and the two other qualifying organizations, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries. 

What a racket.

With family plans that start as low as $282 a month, this faith-based cooperative approach to sharing medical expenses promises big savings over traditional health insurance.