Idaho farmers can band together to buy cheaper health insurance through Farm Bureau deal

For Doug Barrie, a fifth-generation farmer in East Idaho, the options for affordable health insurance have been slim pickings.

The employees at his farm in Ucon include him, his son, and a handful of others, depending on the time of year.

He's not alone in the struggle to find health insurance. That's common among members of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, an association that serves over 10,000 Idaho farmers, said Barrie, who serves as the organization's vice president.

"Our big concern is being able to provide that affordable health insurance and trying to relieve that burden for our family farms," he said in an interview.

But he's hoping that a new plan, just approved by the Trump administration, will ease that struggle.

The plan lets Idaho farmers who are part of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation to band together to buy cheaper health insurance by acting as one association of businesses, rather than thousands of separate small businesses. The approval came months after a common health insurance option for farmers — that was deeply subsidized by the federal government — is getting more expensive.

The Idaho Farm Bureau is already offering the plans.

Farmers often get insurance on exchanges, where costs are rising after federal subsidies end

Barrie said he and many farmers he knows get insurance every year on the state's health insurance exchange, Your Health Idaho. But costs there and through exchanges across the country are rising after Congress declined to extend deeper subsidies for health insurance costs.

Across the country, many farmers used individual markets like Idaho's exchange to buy health insurance.

More than a quarter of farmers and ranchers get insurance on individual marketplaces, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan health policy group KFF. That's a much higher rate than the general population, where just 6% of American adults get non-group coverage, KFF Health News reported

In announcing approval of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation's new health insurance structure earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor said the plan advances President Donald Trump's goal for health care affordability for small businesses. And it could be a model for other groups in the country to follow, one top federal official said.

"This guidance will expand access to quality, affordable health coverage to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural tenants and landowners, across Idaho and may be used by other groups across America," Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Daniel Aronowitz said in a statement. "This is an innovative model that expands access to employer sponsored coverage, especially for small businesses, by reducing regulatory complexity and the cost of health coverage."

Plan means more affordable health insurance for farms competing in tough insurance markets, attorney says

Holland & Hart Partner Gabe Hamilton represented the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation on the issue.

Before the Department of Labor approved the new plan structure, many small Idaho farmers had to buy insurance geared toward small employers, he said in an interview. But the new deal, he said, lets them act as one group of businesses, helping them get opportunities to save money on premiums.

"This will allow the members of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, the small business owners … to have access to more affordable health insurance for their employees," Hamilton said. "These are typically small employers with five or fewer employees. … That's often the hardest market in which to find affordable coverage options."

He said he believed this is the first deal issued to a farm bureau federation. The Department of Labor couldn't immediately be reached to confirm that.

"For years, (the Idaho Farm Bureau's) members have been telling them that affordable health care is one of the greatest needs. So, they've been looking for ways to solve that problem," Hamilton said. "And so I think they saw an opportunity here."

The deal has been a long time coming. Barrie said there's been talk about pursuing the health plan structure even before he joined the board of the Idaho Farm Bureau four years ago.

"It seemed just like a dream — nothing that was going to come into fruition," he said.

Who's eligible to buy health insurance through this model?

Health insurance plans will only be open to people who are Idaho Farm Bureau members who are "actively engaged in agricultural production in Idaho, employ at least two full-time employees, and sign a participation agreement, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Idaho Farm Bureau is currently offering the plans. Find more information online at idahofarmbureauinsurance.com/insurance/health-insurance, or contact your local Farm Bureau insurance agent.

Courtesy of Idaho Capital Sun