Farmers and ranchers. You don’t often hear about that category when it comes to medical insurance and this healthcare crisis. But, farmers and ranchers are struggling more than many, and are in some serious need of some kind of healthcare change.
In a recent study conducted by the Access Project, farmers and ranchers are at greater risk for medical debt than any other population. They are also at greater risk for taking out loans to pay for medical expenses, using up life savings, and maxing out credit cards. Farmers and ranchers with children, which is the majority of them, are at the greatest risk for accruing medical debt.
The interesting part of this study shows that even though farmers and ranchers are at greater risk for medical debt, their debt tops out at around $2,000, and yet they are not making enough money to complete payments. It is a sad state of affairs when America’s hard working farmers and family ranchers cannot afford to pay off routine medical expenses.
“Health care costs are among my family’s major expenses, costing more than $12,000 each year. I could do a lot with some of that $12,000 — like buy a new tractor. My premiums have risen from $788 a month in 2007 to $1027 a month now,” said Craig Pausch, a farmer and rancher from, Hankinson, North Dakota.
The problem with medical insurance for farmers and ranchers is that the costs are so high, and the coverage is so low, that debt is always just around the corner. Many families who spend tireless hours working the land can’t even afford medical insurance, which is why the Center for Rural Affairs supports the Public Option, claiming that it will make affordable coverage available to “rural communities” that cannot afford anything else.
Listen to this staggering number; nearly 60% of uninsured “rural” Americans are 200% under the national poverty level! Working the land and making less than $42,000 for a family of four does not leave much room for the high cost of medical insurance.
The common phrase ‘being nickeled and dimed’ into medical debt comes to mind when talking about farmers and ranchers, and the private insurance companies are doing their best to slowly and surely take advantage of those hard-working Americans.
Farmers and ranchers; check out http://www.noinsuranceclub.com for affordable healthcare alternatives!
