Rural Issue

Nebraska farmer feels pinch of higher health insurance costs

The rising cost of healthcare insurance is a major challenge for many U.S. farmers.

In a recent non-scientific, online survey of Nebraska Farm Bureau members, 34 percent of respondents said their monthly premiums on insurance bought on the individual marketplace were greater than $1,500 a month, or $18,000 a year. In many cases, those costs have more than doubled since implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010.

Farmer Kent Lorens of Stratton, Nebraska says they’re feeling the pinch of those higher insurance costs. Lorens tells Brownfield that his current Blue Cross Blue Shield Bronze plan costs $1,800 a month ($21,600 annually) with a $13,200 family deductible. Eight years ago, before Obamacare, it was just over $12,000 a year with only a $5,000 deductible.

Brownfield visited with Lorens about his insurance situation.

AUDIO: Kent Lorens