ACA Rules Injuring Agricultural Economy, Says Rural Advocacy Group

Communicating for America advocates for Obamacare rule changes.

FERGUS FALLS, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- When it comes to providing health insurance for farm workers, meaning well doesn’t equate to doing well.

Non-profit organization Communicating for America is sounding the alarm bell about new Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance rules that harm all concerned in the agricultural community.

“The ACA, or Obamacare, rules regarding farm workers that became effective Jan. 1 of this year don’t yield better protection for workers, but they do threaten the competitiveness of American agriculture,” said Communicating for America CEO Jeffrey Smedsrud.

Beginning Jan. 1 of 2016, employers with 50 to 99 employees are required to offer health insurance to its workers. The previous cut-off was 100 employees.

“The government’s intentions are good – to provide health insurance to more farm workers,” Smedsrud said. “However, the real, on-the-ground impact of the rules is that a high percentage farm workers are refusing coverage because of excessive costs considering their modest incomes, plus fears of immigration retaliation. In many cases when workers do accept the insurance, the cost to employers, including farm labor contractors and smaller growers who perform their own hiring, is so unrealistically high that it destroys competitiveness.”

Smedsrud said the impact of the new requirement is particularly harsh in states where the highest number of migrant workers are hired, including California, Texas, Washington, Florida, Oregon and North Carolina. USDA’s Economic Research Service and several migrant worker advocacy groups agree that roughly half the farm labor workforce in the U.S. is undocumented, which leads to fears about registering for the ACA health insurance.

“We think the Obama administration should re-think these harmful rules,” he said. “We believe agricultural employers who employ temporary farm workers for fewer than 30 hours per week should be exempt from the requirements to offer the fully-loaded federal health insurance. We believe workers should be allowed to purchase modified plans that are significantly more affordable while providing basic protection. We believe many employers would elect to pay for these plans.”

Smedsrud said unreasonable health insurance regulations will only punish farmers and farm workers, while likely driving up the cost of food.

“To protect farmers and farm workers, the government needs bi-partisan support to revise its method of attempting to provide health insurance coverage to farm workers,” he said.

Since 1972, Communicating for America has stood up for agriculture, especially smaller, family-owned operations, and the self-employed and micro businesses.

About Communicating for AmericaCommunicating for America (formerly Communicating for Agriculture) advocates for the advancement of people in agriculture and small business, and the promotion of their general health, welfare and education. More information is available at www.communicatingforamerica.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160217006479/en/

For Communicating for America
Colleen McGuire, 651-338-8822
[email protected]

Source: Communicating for America

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