Insurance for farmers in question

WASHINGTON — Dairy farmers already have plenty of worries this year, with milk more expensive to make than what they are paid to sell it. Another costly issue, though, is brewing in agriculture: health insurance for farmers.

When Congress returns from its summer recess in early September, lawmakers will have to contend with how an overhaul of the nation's health care system would affect farm families, who often have to shop around for private plans that are expensive and hard to obtain.

In some cases, though, health insurance comes through bargaining cooperatives that sell milk or other goods on behalf of farmers. Dairylea Cooperative Inc., Syracuse, the north country's dominant cooperative, has been lobbying on the issue in an effort to protect its plan as part of any new system.

"We need to ensure our health care program can continue to operate and compete on a level playing field so our members have access to affordable, comprehensive health coverage that meets the needs of farmers," Max Gannon, president of Agri-Services Agency, a Dairylea subsidiary, said in a press release.

A spokeswoman for Dairylea, Karen Cartier, said Dairylea supports the Obama administration's health care agenda, generally, but is working to make sure that agricultural co-ops' health plans are considered in the legislation and deemed "qualified." The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives is helping ASA make its case that its plan deserves that status, Dairylea announced in a press release.

"We're just concerned about how small businesses, like dairy farms, are going to be treated by this," Ms. Cartier said.

In addition, ASA has asked lawmakers to promote consumer-owned cooperative plans generally instead of relying on a universal government coverage plan.

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, wants to include insurance cooperatives and private plans as well as a non-for-profit public plan, said her spokeswoman, Bethany Lesser.

Health insurance is typically more expensive for farmers than for others, health care reform advocates say, because their work is dangerous and they often have pre-existing conditions because of farm accidents or other issues related to the farm. Farmers' average age is nearly 60, as well.

And while most farms now have income from other sources — including family members' off-farm jobs that may offer insurance — the recession has cost many of those jobs, advocates say. Job trends in rural areas have steered more toward low-wage service jobs with limited or no health coverage.

Rural areas generally have a greater percentage of people without health insurance, reported the Center for Rural Affairs, a nonprofit group in Lyons, Neb. And while critics of the Obama administration's approach sometimes decry the idea of government-run health care, the number of rural, non-elderly residents already enrolled in government-run health care programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program has more than doubled since 1987, the center reported.