The Ohio Farm Bureau wants to offer individual health coverage to farmers and their families, among other agricultural workers, but says it needs authorization from lawmakers to do so.
Introduced by Sen. Susan Manchester (R-Waynesfield) on Monday, Senate Bill 100 would exclude the Ohio Farm Bureau’s proposal for personal health plans from oversight by the Ohio Department of Insurance.
It’s a legislative tweak enabling the state farming and agriculture advocacy organization to provide health plans directly to members, rather than to sole proprietors and businesses with one to 50 workers, as it has done through its existing self-funded plan. Farm Bureau Health Plans would have to abide by consumer protections enforced by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Other states have similar programs in place, including Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas, according to the Ohio Farm Bureau. Tennessee’s individual coverage program has been around since 1993.
“Ohio farmers deserve to be added to this list,” Manchester said Tuesday morning.
About 6.1% of Ohioans were uninsured in 2023, according to Kaiser Family Foundation statistics. More are underinsured. About 9.1% of Ohio adults said they had medical debt between 2019 and 2021.
Matt Aultman, an Ohio Farm Bureau board member and Darke County commissioner, said Tuesday bureau members are at disproportionate risk of being uninsured or underinsured. They might not qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and at the same time, find private insurance plans cost prohibitive.
“The sole reason that my wife and I found work off the farm was that we have reliable insurance,” Aultman said. “I hear from members of my community and farmers throughout the state on a regular basis that health care continues to be a major hurdle.”
SB 100 does not ask for any appropriations on the state’s part. It has yet to get assigned a committee, but several GOP and Democratic senators have signed on.
