The state’s largest general farm organization will soon be offering their members high-quality and affordable health care coverage.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed bipartisan legislation into law last summer that enables Missouri Farm Bureau members to have affordable and reliable health care. Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins tells 939 the Eagle that it’s been quite a journey:
“A journey that started out as a tremendous need amongst farm and ranch families as well as those who are self-employed who have long struggled for access to affordable, robust health coverage,” Mr. Hawkins says.
Farm Bureau’s health plans will offer a range of services from office visits, hospitalization, emergency room services and preventive care. You have to be a Missouri Farm Bureau member for at least 30 days to be eligible. Farm Bureau has launched a new website and is now taking coverage applications. You can find a link to that website here.
A mid-Missouri state lawmaker who serves on the House Agriculture Committee praises a new state law that allows Missouri Farm Bureau to offer health insurance plans to its members. State Rep. Jim Schulte (R-New Bloomfield) tells 939 the Eagle that the law is a game-changer for family farmers who could not afford insurance. Missouri Farm Bureau president Hawkins of Appleton City agrees, telling 939 the Eagle that there’s a need:
“There is a doughnut hole, a segment of the population that essentially had been underserved and left behind by failed federal health policies. And so many times that’s the people that we represent: farm families the most who are self-employed,” Hawkins says.
President Hawkins says that in rural areas there is a struggle with affordability and choice when it comes to coverage options. Governor Kehoe signed legislation allowing Farm Bureau to offer coverage last summer. Missouri Farm Bureau says these new plans will sometimes be 30 to 50 percent less than unsubsidized marketplace plans. Representative Schulte says this will help people keep their farms and provide affordable health care for their families.