A tea party activist has filed a lawsuit in Frankfort challenging the legality of the Kentucky Health Benefits Exchange that Gov. Steve Beshear approved last year by executive order.
David Adams says in the lawsuit filed Monday that Beshear created the exchange without necessary legislative approval. Adams is asking a judge to order work on the exchange to cease.
Beshear ordered the creation of the Kentucky Health Benefits Exchange to help more than 600,000 uninsured Kentuckians arrange coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Kentucky is one of 17 states that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved to build their own exchanges to provide one-stop shopping for health insurance. Open enrollment begins Oct. 1 and the exchange starts operation next January.