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State lawmakers take a closer look at MO Farm Bureau’s healthcare plan

A bill that would help create a healthcare plan for Missouri Farm Bureau members was reviewed in the Missouri House Ag Policy Committee this morning.

Similar legislation was proposed in the Missouri Senate in 2023, but Representative Kurtis Gregory says it couldn’t overcome roadblocks to pass and Gregory is a sponsor of House Bill 2082.

“This bill will pull the Missouri Farm Bureau and their qualified membership organizations out from under the Department of Commerce and Insurance to sell health coverage,” says Gregory. “It’s going to look like it, act like it and be very similar to it. It gives an option to members to be able to buy more competitively priced health coverage.”

Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins answered questions from lawmakers about the coverage plan, emphasizing the importance of giving farmers and ranchers another option.

“I’ll be upfront and say these plans won’t work for every Farm Bureau member, but they will work for some and I believe that helping some is better than continuing to leave all of them behind,” said Hawkins.

Lawmakers asked detailed questions and the plan received some pushback. Representative Doug Clemens said he thinks insurance can do a better job than a health benefits plan. But Gregory tells Brownfield…

“I feel like we’ve made the bill better than what it started out as last year.”

Gregory, who also vice-chairman of the committee, tells Brownfield he is optimistic the committee will vote on the bill next week.

State Senators Sandy Crawford and Jason Bean are sponsors of a similar bill in the Senate.

Missouri is one of six states considering new Farm Bureau healthcare plans in 2024. Others include: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.