Farm Bureau Health Plans Beat the ACA on Prices With an Age-Old Tactic: Rejecting Sick People

Robin Carlton pays about $650 a month for a plan on the Missouri health insurance exchange that covers him and his two teenage kids. That monthly total is $200 higher than what he paid last year, due in part to the expiration in December of covid pandemic-era premium tax credits.

But the self-employed St. Louis property manager isn’t in any hurry to investigate a new type of coverage that might be cheaper than his marketplace plan: farm bureau health plans.

“Although I’m not a fan of rising costs, I’m not going to sacrifice coverage for my kids to save a buck,” Carlton said. Carlton finds himself among a growing number of Americans who have confronted difficult choices because of rising Affordable Care Act premiums and other affordability issues.

For instance, a recent KFF poll found that many returning marketplace enrollees reported higher costs this year. In addition, most expressed worry about affording routine and unexpected medical care, as well as the cost of prescription drugs.

Worries were greater among those with lower incomes and chronic health conditions.