Medical debt is one of the biggest reasons people declare bankruptcy. Having health insurance is supposed to remedy this with funds to cover medical bills. However, farmers don’t tend to have quality health insurance unless it’s provided through an off-farm job. Farmers suffering from lower profitability or who have lost an off-farm job with benefits are hurting right now. This means that farmers are left incredibly vulnerable in the year of a global pandemic…
What can be done to protect farmers from medical bankruptcy?
Buying a quality health insurance plan through the marketplace is an obvious answer. But in reality, the insurance marketplace feels overwhelming and difficult. On October 6th, Farm Commons’ Staff Attorney Rich Lavigne is hosting a webinar to help you plan ahead for your 2021 health insurance needs. Rich will cover how to shop for plans and apply for coverage, how to understand the different types of health plans available, and also what tools are available to help decide what’s best for you. You’ll also get tips on paying for the costs of health insurance and navigating life’s unpredictable events.
Open Enrollment 2020: Health Insurance Options for a Resilient Farm Business
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 3:30pm Eastern, 2:30pm Central, 1:30pm Mountain, 12:30pm Pacific.
Sign up here
Also, for those of you Wisconsin folks out there, join Rich on October 21st for his webinar that specifically covers BadgerCare Plus, Wisconsin’s program to provide free or low-cost health insurance to children and adults. With generous income eligibility limits for children, BadgerCare Plus can help reduce health care costs for the entire family, even if you already have another type of health insurance. Rich will help you learn about eligibility guidelines, program benefits, and how to apply. Sign up here.
But that’s not all… Another strategy for avoiding medical debt bankruptcy that is often overlooked but can be very useful is workers compensation.
What? Isn’t workers comp just for employees?
Sure enough, workers compensation coverage is typically used to cover employee injuries that occur on the job. But, you as the farm business owner can also cover yourself with a workers comp policy. If you as the farm owner get injured while farming, it can help you pay for medical bills as well as lost wages from farming. Learn more about this and other options like disability insurance in our insurance tutorial.