The cost of health care coverage continues to be a growing challenge for many Americans, and particularly so for small business owners and the self-employed. In a recent survey of Michigan farmers, health care costs were listed as a significant challenge in terms of business profitability, overall business expenses, as well as overall household expenses.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 altered the health care insurance marketplace in many ways including:
Health insurance plans must conform to offering certain minimum benefits.
Health insurance companies cannot deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
Michigan Farm Bureau’s medically underwritten member health plans were closed in 2014-15.
Several state Farm Bureaus have recently pursued state legislation that would allow them to offer members an alternative “member health benefit” not subject to certain PPACA requirements. Also referred to as “non-compliant” with the PPACA, these member health benefit plans have more flexibility in creating more affordability through a more streamlined level of benefits and medical underwriting.
Contact: Rob Anderson | 517-679-5343
Would you support the creation of an MFB member health benefit if it required medical underwriting and denied coverage for pre-existing conditions?
Would you support a member health benefit that provided benefit options that were more limited than PPACA requirements but in exchange provided cost savings?
Should MFB pursue state legislation that allows the organization to create a member health benefit that is outside the PPACA?
MFB Policy #62 Health