The new Farmers' Health Cooperative of Wisconsin allows farmers to negotiate lower prices on comprehensive insurance plans through collective bargaining. Project coordinator Katie Mnuk says nearly 3,500 people have already requested information on the program.
The co-op went in to effect on April 1st . Mnuk says the response shows a clear demand from farmers and agriculture-related businesses for affordable health insurance coverage.
The program offers six plans of enrollment, with prices that range from low-premium, high-deductible coverage to low-deductible plans aimed at agri-business. Mnuk says the average cost of the program is difficult to predict, since the demands of each participant are so different.