Roughly 70% of North Dakota’s agriculture workforce makes use of enhanced federal subsidies for health premiums on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. But with an expiration date looming, they’re getting guidance on how to proceed without them.

The larger subsidies surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic and are scheduled to go away at the end of December. Whether to extend them was a major factor in the recent government shutdown.

North Dakota-based Lance Boyer, sales director of financial products with Farmers Union Insurance, said farmers are among the many populations that saw cost relief with the extra aid. He said the predictions are worrisome with the clock ticking.

“We’re going to see some folks go back to being uninsured,” said Boyer, “and we’re going to see folks having to choose higher deductibles and higher out-of-pockets, to get those premiums down because they don’t have the tax credits to offset that.”

He estimated that out-of-pocket costs could increase by 75% on average.

For an industry with a lot of safety risks, Boyer said curtailing or losing one’s health insurance is troubling. Boyer said he’s working with North Dakota Farmers Union members on plan adjustments to keep their costs from skyrocketing as much as possible.

This topic will also be covered during this weekend’s convention hosted by the union.

It’s not just the hazardous nature of farming that makes health coverage vital for these producers. Boyer said the extra stress they often carry has a way of putting pressure on their health care needs.

“Long days, stress, you know, that runs a guy down,” said Boyer. “You tend to get sick a little more sometimes.”

He said many of these farmers are trying to preserve their land and its legacy, and don’t want to sell some of it off to cover basic needs like health insurance.

In Washington, a bipartisan group of lawmakers just introduced a bill that would include a two-year extension of the ACA credits. But it’s unclear if key Republicans will go along as the GOP kicks around other ideas.