Farm bill could be used next year to offer some relief for farmers from high healthcare insurance premiums

OMAHA (DTN) -- The farm bill could be used next year to offer some relief for farmers from high healthcare insurance premiums they face.Association Health Plans (AHPs) have become an avenue touted by the Trump administration to reduce health insurance costs for small employers. The U.S. Department of Labor has a proposal, which could become final any day, to expand the use of AHPs. The plans could provide a potentially cheaper insurance option for millions of people, including 6 million small-business employees and 3 million sole proprietors.Under the proposed rule, AHPs would be allowed for businesses with a "commonality of interests," such a farmers. The Labor Department is dropping requirements that businesses must have at least one employee, which would broaden AHPs to sole proprietors. And the association doesn't have to exist solely to market health coverage, so farm groups and others can create plans.Boosting the Department of Labor plan, the House version of the farm bill has language allowing USDA to provide up to $65 million in grants to farm trade associations for support and technical assistance to create agricultural association health plans. The bill also allows up to $15 million annually in loans to establish health plans. The Senate farm bill, however, does not have comparable language included in its version.Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow and expert on health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation, has been watching the Department of Labor proposal on AHPs and told DTN expectations are that a final rule will come out "any day now." The labor secretary has also said the rule will come out sometime in June.The AHPs basically allow small employers to pool together for health policies, though it's likely the rules coming out under the Department of Labor will not have all of the requirements demanded of health insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act. The Labor Department calls AHPs "an innovate option for expanding access to employer-sponsored coverage (especially for small businesses)."SOME CRITICSThe plans have critics, though, because they might not provide the same kind of coverage as other insurance policies.AHPs would largely look attractive to people who make too much income to qualify for subsidized insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. About 40% of people buying insurance on the open market don't qualify for those Obamacare subsidies, and that's where a lot of farmers paying high premiums fall."There are certainly people who need relief, people who don't qualify for a subsidy under the ACA," Pollitz said. "The question is how to provide that."A USDA-funded study of farmers released last summer found nearly three-quarters of farmers consider health insurance an important or very important risk-management strategy on their operations. But just over half of all farmers and ranchers are not confident they could cover the costs of a major illness or injury. Farmers are vulnerable to high premiums, partially because of age, and nearly two-thirds of those surveyed reported a pre-existing condition. For more on the study's findings, visit http://docs.wixstatic.com/…Under the proposed rule, associations would not be required to provide the essential health benefits. There could be an option for self-employed people to buy a plan without prescription drug benefits, for instance. There also would be no restrictions on rating people based on age, gender or where they live. Still, the lower rates could entice younger people to buy a policy.