{"id":5736,"date":"2025-12-31T19:59:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T03:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrwofficial.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/31\/add-health-insurance-costs-to-problems-facing-american-farmers-shots\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T19:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T03:59:39","slug":"add-health-insurance-costs-to-problems-facing-american-farmers-shots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrwofficial.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/31\/add-health-insurance-costs-to-problems-facing-american-farmers-shots\/","title":{"rendered":"Add health insurance costs to problems facing American farmers : Shots"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Prairie Star Farm in Allamakee County, Iowa is home to 180 dairy cows. Owners Meghan and John Palmer say growing health care costs add to the financial pressures facing many farm families, including theirs.<\/p>\n

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Meghan Palmer<\/p>\n

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Meghan Palmer<\/p>\n

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It’s been a tough year for farmers. Between falling prices for commodity crops<\/a> like corn and soybeans, rising input costs<\/a> for supplies like fertilizer and seeds<\/a>, the Trump tariffs and the dismantling of USAID<\/a>, many in agriculture won’t be profitable this year.<\/p>\n

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The enhanced subsidies that many Americans, including farmers, rely on to purchase health insurance are set to expire<\/a> at the end of this month.<\/p>\n

James Davis, 55, who grows cotton, soybeans and corn in north Louisiana, said he doesn’t know how he and his wife will afford coverage next year, when their insurance premium will quadruple, jumping to about $2,700 a month.<\/p>\n

“You can’t afford it. Bottom line, there’s nothing to discuss. You can’t afford it without the subsidies,” Davis said.<\/p>\n

More than a quarter of the agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the individual marketplace, according to an analysis<\/a> from KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization. <\/p>\n