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Health insurance causing additional stress for farmers

Rising health care costs are causing additional financial stress for many farm families while commodity prices remain low.

Southwest Minnesota farmer Carolyn Olson says the Affordable Care Act took away individual insurance plans that offered options and flexibility.

“When Blue Cross/Blue Shield eliminated their individual plan, it actually hurt a lot of farmers that are not a corporation or they don’t have an employee and no longer qualify for even a small group plan.”

Olson tells Brownfield her monthly premium went up 37 percent in the last year and others have seen increases of more than 60 percent.

“And when the farm economy is not recovering, that is really going to put a lot of farmers in a financial bind.  Just being able to qualify for the insurance and not have the penalties assessed to them at tax time.”

Governor Mark Dayton has proposed 25 percent rebates for an estimated 123,000 Minnesotans who buy insurance on the individual market but are not eligible for federal tax credits.

Olson, a district director for Minnesota Farm Bureau, says the organization is encouraging listening sessions on health insurance for the near future.