Farmers & Ranchers: Health Care Costs Hurting Bottom Line

A new survey shows that one in four non- corporate farm and ranch operators report health care expenses as a major contributor to their financial problems, according to USAgNet. The Access Project, in collaboration with the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, conducted the health care survey of farm and ranch families in seven states: Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Carol Pryor, senior policy analyst at the Access Project, said farmers and ranchers are paying twice as much as those who receive insurance through non-farm related jobs. Pryor said to help curb costs, many farmers and ranchers have to choose policies that have a high deductibles in order to have any coverage at all. The report shows that 26% of those surveyed said they have to draw on other resources to cover health care costs; 65% have had to dip into family savings.