As the national debate on health care heats up, farmers and ranchers have a lot on the line.
As Politico reports, farmers have been struggling with the economic challenges of sluggish crop prices and sharply lower farm income. And even though close to 90 percent of farmers have health insurance, their concerns over health care is more widespread than it may seem.
A new university-led study has found that farmers and ranchers are actually quite concerned about health care costs and nearly half worry they will have to liquidate land or other assets to help offset health-related costs.
In related news, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran made national news after initially announcing Monday night that he would not vote for the U.S. Senate’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but on Tuesday, Moran flipped the script at a rally in Olathe, Kansas, where he said he would support a so-called “repeal-and-delay” plan being hatched by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.