Kansas Legislature passes Farm Bureau alternative to health insurance

Sen. Mary Ware says lawmakers are giving Kansas Farm Bureau a blank check by allowing the organization to offer an unregulated, cheap alternative to health insurance.

Ware, a Democrat from Wichita, railed against the uncertainty surrounding the authorization of Farm Bureau’s plans, which will undercut other insurance providers by ruling out coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Farm Bureau hasn’t drafted coverage terms for Kansas yet, but the organization won’t have to cover serious ailments and could raise premiums without fear of oversight from the insurance commissioner because the product won’t be classified as insurance.

“This bill,” Ware said, “would allow one company to cherry-pick and only cover the healthiest Kansans, thereby further destabilizing our insurance industry by leaving the real insurance companies with a sicker pool, creating a very uneven playing field. We all desperately want better, more affordable health care for Kansans, but this most definitely is not the way to do it.”

Read more: https://www.cjonline.com/news/20190405/kansas-legislature-passes-farm-bureau-alternative-to-health-insurance
(Topeka Capital-Journal)