When Nebraska Farm Bureau held its listening sessions with members over the summer, several issues were raised consistently by farmers and ranchers across the state: trade, property taxes and health care.

In 2017, a nonscientific survey of Nebraska Farm Bureau members showed roughly 57% of the state’s farmers and ranchers purchased health insurance through either the individual market or the health insurance exchange as a result of the Affordable Care Act, compared to 23% of nonfarmers. Meanwhile, 34% of farmer and rancher respondents said their monthly premiums on insurance obtained on the individual market were over $1,500 a month, compared to 10% of nonfarm respondents.

Steve Nelson, Nebraska Farm Bureau president, noted some farm and ranch families in Nebraska are facing $25,000 to $40,000 per year for health insurance premiums.

"You see a lot of folks not working on the farm, when that's where they would like to be, working somewhere else because they need to generate additional income to pay for their health care coverage, or they are able to obtain health care coverage through that work," Nelson said. "That's very concerning to me. It's not just an occasional story that we hear about this. It's very widespread across the state of Nebraska."

On Sept. 19, Nebraska Farm Bureau announced a new Nebraska Farm Bureau Member Health Plan in the hopes of creating more affordable health care options for farmers and ranchers.

Medica, a nonprofit health insurer and the sole insurer for Nebraska under the Affordable Care Act, developed coverage options and premiums for the plan, a large group Association Health Plan (AHP).

Medica is working with Farm Bureau agents to sell the new health care products. NEFB also established the Nebraska Farm Bureau Employee Insurance Consortium to sponsor and manage the member health plan and help comply with state and federal laws for AHPs. The consortium is led by a seven-member board of employer-members of NEFB.

Farm Bureau members who are farmers, ranchers and agribusiness people, are eligible for enrollment. In this case, if 50% of the gross income of a farmer, rancher or agribusiness person comes from production agriculture, they qualify for the AHP. For the purposes of the AHP, an agribusiness refers to a business that provides an input or service that's essential to production agriculture.

Those who became Farm Bureau members by July 1, 2018, are eligible for open enrollment from Oct. 1 through Dec. 1. Those who join by July 1, 2019. will be eligible for the next open enrollment. Employees and their dependents will also be eligible to the same plan options.

The plan will cover pre-existing conditions and is compliant with the Affordable Care Act. Rates will be determined by age and geography, but health status and pre-existing conditions will not make a difference on rates.

There will be three plan options available for the first year:
• copay plan with a lower deductible
• Health Savings Account (HSA) compatible plan with a higher deductible
• coinsurance plan, with a higher out-of-pocket cost but lower premium

Overall, Rob Robertson, NEFB chief administrator, said members should see lower premiums through these health care options.

"On average, we hope to lower the premiums from the marketplace by 25% for farmers and ranchers," Robertson said. "In the agribusiness world, we hope by 5% or so the first year. Once Medica gets their first-year history of this group, we see the potential of this getting more affordable all the time."

LOWER PREMIUMS: Rob Robertson, Nebraska Farm Bureau chief administrator, said during a press conference that the goal is to reduce premiums on the marketplace for farmers and ranchers by 25% on average for the first year. For agribusinesses, the goal is to reduce premiums by 5% the first year.

Tom Schwarz, Farm Bureau member who farms near Bertrand, will serve as president of the new consortium. Schwarz noted his farm, like many others across Nebraska, has felt the pressures of high insurance premiums and of not being able to provide insurance to his employees.

"With the tight labor market we have today, the first question you get from any employee is, 'What do you have for health care? What are the benefits?' We haven't had anything to offer," said Schwarz. "I had one employee that actually left my operation to work for somebody else. It was in manufacturing, but he got health insurance. He was happy with his job, but he needed the health insurance that I couldn't offer him. I'm hoping now I'm going to be able to offer that to my employees."