Latest news with #MissouriFarmBureau
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawmakers approve bill exempting Missouri Farm Bureau health plans from federal rules
State Sen. Kurtis Gregory shakes hands following his introduction to the Missouri Senate (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Missouri Farm Bureau will be allowed to sell health care plans to its members, Medicaid will cover the cost of hearing aids for adults and supplies of birth control will be extended under legislation that passed the legislature in the waning hours of the session on Thursday. The legislation, which was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Kurtis Gregory of Marshall, now heads to the governor's desk. The underlying bill allows the Missouri Farm Bureau to sell health care plans that don't abide by the protections set by the Affordable Care Act. As a result, the Farm Bureau would be able to offer lower-price coverage options, which the organization and its supporters say is necessary to help uninsured farmers. 'This is a product that is going to get people coverage that otherwise cannot afford it,' Gregory said at a House hearing last month. 'This is a coverage product that is going to save lives. It is a product that's going to save people money.' State Rep. Brad Pollitt, a Republican from Sedalia who carried the bill in the House, said Thursday that the Farm Bureau's health plans 'will not be the solution for everyone. But those without health care plans believe this will be beneficial.' This was the third year the bill has been proposed, and it's received significant pushback from Democrats and patient advocates, who argue it would leave some Missourians without protections. It's also faced opposition from insurance companies who argue it gives the Farm Bureau an unfair advantage over competitors. If the bill is signed into law, Missouri will join 10 states that have adopted similar carveouts for the Farm Bureau in previous years. Alabama and Florida also passed similar measures this year. Democrats added some protections to the Farm Bureau portion of the bill during negotiations, including mandating the organization to provide a clear disclaimer that the products it's selling are not officially regulated as health insurance, mandating the company can't cancel coverage for members because of a medical event and ensuring the state insurance department will handle complaints. The bill contains a wide swath of other health measures, including several added by Democrats during negotiations, especially by state Sen. Patty Lewis of Kansas City. Those include: provisions mandating that Missouri Medicaid cover hearing aids and cochlear implants for adults, expanding access to testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, requiring insurance companies that provide birth control medication to provide extended supplies and tweaking the law around telehealth to allow audio-only visits. There was little opposition voiced on Thursday. State Rep. Betsy Fogle, a Democrat from Springfield, said the negotiations 'were able to make a bill significantly better with wins for the majority party, wins for the minority party and ultimately wins for our constituents back home.' The bill passed by a vote of 147 to 1 on Thursday afternoon in the House. That followed a vote of 24 to 6 in the Senate. The Farm Bureau would offer lower prices by reverting to the pre-Affordable Care Act practice of what's called medical underwriting — carefully evaluating applicants' medical history and risk — to determine whether to cover them and at what price. The Farm Bureau is a nonprofit agricultural membership organization which partners with for-profit companies to sell various kinds of insurance to its members. Anyone can join — the fee is $30 per year. Historically the group has been primarily made up of people in farming communities. Gregory has estimated around 15,000 Farm Bureau members lack health insurance and would be the target audience to enroll in the benefit plan. Many farmers and other members of the Farm Bureau, proponents say, are uninsured because they can't afford to buy an individual plan on the Affordable Care Act marketplace or make too much money to qualify for subsidies. Garrett Hawkins, president of Missouri Farm Bureau, said in an interview with The Independent shortly after the bill passed that the organization's effort has been years in the making. Lack of health insurance options for farmers is 'an impediment to bringing the kids home to the farm. It's an impediment to bringing a spouse home to the farm who has pursued off-farm employment solely to get health coverage,' he said. 'This is a big deal.' Emily Kalmer, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said at a House hearing last month that even with concessions made at the urging of the bill's critics, patient advocates remain highly concerned. 'To be clear, this legislation still allows the Farm Bureau to sell unregulated products that won't have to comply with many of the other provisions we fought for over the years,' Kalmer said, including protections for preexisting conditions. Medicaid coverage for hearing aids and cochlear implants for adults would be expanded under the bill passed Thursday. Currently, Medicaid in Missouri, which is called MO HealthNet, only covers hearing aids for eligible children, pregnant women and blind people. There was little opposition to that change this year, but in prior years there has been some concern around the cost. The Medicaid hearing aid and cochlear implant provisions are estimated to cost up to $10.3 million in fiscal year 2027, and $2.7 million the following year, according to the fiscal note. 'I realize there are some costs to this,' said state Rep. Cameron Parker, a Republican from Campbell. 'But I do believe that the benefit of these services, the hearing instruments, the cochlear implants, outweigh the cost greatly.' The bill also requires health plans to cover extended supplies of birth control. Plans that provide coverage for hormonal contraceptives would be required to cover a supply lasting up to 90 days, or, for generic medication, up to 180 days — meaning patients would be able to pick up months-long supplies of the birth control pill at one time rather than needing to pick up the prescription more frequently. The Independent's Jason Hancock contributed reporting. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senator Josh Hawley stops in Springfield as he pushes for new farm bill
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Missouri Senator Josh Hawley met with members of the Missouri Farm Bureau at Convoy of Hope today as he pushes for a new farm bill. 'We have a lot of work to do. A long way to go,' Hawley said about a new farm bill. 'We need a new farm bill. We need it ASAP. We've got to protect our farmers and ranchers.' So what is the farm bill? 'The farm bill is really a food security bill, part of which is used to help farmers and ranchers provide risk management tools, as well as help implement conservation practices that benefit all of society,' Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins said. 'A huge portion of the farm bill relates to food security,' Hawkins said. 'Many food programs that our neighbors depend on are reauthorized or renewed every time a farm bill is passed.' Hawley's push includes two major factors — the fact that the bill itself is technically expired, and he wants less regulation as a part of it. 'The farm bill technically expired years ago. We've just been doing one year patches. It has got to be a priority,' Hawley said. 'We need to do a number of things,' Hawley said. 'We need to give farmers the ability and the ranchers, the ability to farm and ranch on their own ground without the EPA coming in and telling them how to use the rainwater in their ditches for heaven's sakes, and trying to regulate that as if it's a waterway of the United States,' Hawley said. 'We need to roll back the environmental regulations, the Green New Deal regulations that are stifling and killing family farms. We need to break up monopoly meatpackers and other monopolies in the ag space that are preventing our farmers in our ranchers from getting a fair price on their goods and commodities. We need new trade agreements that are fair trade agreements that open up markets all across the world for our farmers and ranchers.' Fair trade has been a large talking point as President Trump has installed, and then paused, tariffs on foreign countries. While tariffs are meant to incentivize American production, some companies may continue to import goods, and many Americans are worried retaliatory tariffs from other countries could raise the prices of goods in the US. Farmers are no exception. 'Farmers are price takers, not price makers,' Hawkins said. 'We have business plans that we've had in place, even starting from last August and September, when row crop farmers make their planting decisions for this year, plans are underway. So, yes, while trade policy may be volatile right now, what your listeners need to keep in mind as farmers are executing their business plans, just as we always would, what's important to keep in mind, though, is the pocketbooks of farmers may hurt depending on this market volatility, and that's why making sure that Congress steps up and the USDA is ready to help provide this stopgap solution potentially while this president works to make sure that the level playing field actually happens in the global marketplace.' Ozarks First asked Senator Hawley, with Republicans controlling the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, how a bill hasn't already been passed. 'Well, remember, Republicans just came into control about three months ago now, not quite,' Hawley said. 'At this point, the work has begun, and on the President's big budget bill, his 'big beautiful bill' as he calls it, his massive tax cut bill for working people that has begun, but my point is the farm bill needs to be just as much of a priority. We need to get that done. We need to get it done this calendar year. There's time to work, but we've got to get on it right now.' Hawley and Hawkins agree agriculture is a vital part of the Ozarks, and say the best way to help out, is a new farm bill. 'Farming is our most important industry in the state of Missouri. I would argue it's our most important industry nationwide,' Hawley said. 'You cannot be a great nation if you do not produce your own food.' 'I think what we have to keep in mind is right now we have a bloated government and questions are being asked in terms of trying to 'right size' programs. We are feeling pains all across government right now, which is why we need to write a new farm bill, which is why members of Congress need to step up, ask the hard questions, and prioritize programs that truly benefit the most vulnerable in America, as well as benefit those who work hard to produce food, fiber and fuel for the rest of the country and many people around the world. That is the urgency behind getting a new farm bill done,' Hawkins said. Hawkins, a farmer in St. Clair County, is hopeful future trade deals lessen restrictions on what farmers can export overseas. 'We take in twice as much as what they will take from us. They don't take our beef or our poultry. Why? Because of technical barriers that keep us out,' Hawkins said. 'It could be anything from herbicides used or crop protection tools, for instance. It could be biotechnology, it could be hormones. It could be how we wash our poultry and processing plants.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 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