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Understanding and Estimating Health Insurance – Using the Smart Use Health Insurance™ program with Farm Audiences

Maria Pippidis and Jesse Ketterman

Summary

Farming is one of the most dangerous businesses and health insurance is key to managing the risks of illness, accidents and chronic conditions. Lack of access to affordable health insurance is one of the most significant concerns facing American farmers, an overlooked risk factor that affects their ability to run a successful enterprise. As health care costs continue to rise, it is important for farmers and their families to better understand and estimate the costs and integrate them into their financial plans. Since 2010, University of Maryland Extension, and University of Delaware Cooperative Extension brought leadership to and developed the Health Insurance Literacy Initiative (HILI) Team. This team has sought to reduce confusion, increase capability, and increase confidence of consumers to empower them to make smart choice and use decisions about health insurance.
Understanding and Estimating Costs is a 1.5-hour module developed by the HILI Team as part of the Smart Choice / Smart Use Health Insurance™ curriculum. It was researched, developed, and then pilot tested. Evaluations indicate that participants increase confidence in understanding cost terms and estimating total health care costs. Additionally, participants are more likely to determine how much is needed to cover health care expenses.
Participants in this session will learn about and participate in the key components of the Smart Use Health Insurance™- Understanding and Estimating Health Insurance Costs module. Specifically they will 1) Understand the objectives and content of the module, 2) Analyze how to estimate and plan for these costs using a case study method, 3) Review evaluation strategies and outcomes and 4) become aware of the Smart Use™ and Smart Choice Health Insurance™ resources.

References:
Braun, B., Inwood, S. (2017). Health Insurance is Key to Farm & Ranch Economic Viability; 2017 National Farmer and Rancher Survey Findings. HIREDnAg Research Brief. July 2017. Found at: https://www.hirednag.net/reports
Consumers Union. (No Date). Better Health Insurance Choices. Consumers Union. Retrieved from https://consumersunion.org/topic/health-care/better-health-insurance-choices/.
Inwood, S. (2017). Agriculture, health insurance, human capital and economic development at the rural-urban-interface. Journal of Rural Studies. 54. Pgs. 1-14. Found at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-rural-studies/vol/54/suppl/C
Inwood, S. (2015). Opportunities for extension: Linking health insurance and farm viability. Journal of Extension. 53.
Loewenstein, G., Friedman, J. Y., McGill, B., Ahmad, S., Linck, S., Sinkula, S. Beshears, J., Choi, J., Kolstad, J., Laibson, D., Madrian, B., List, J., Volpp, J.K. (2013). Consumers’ misunderstanding of health insurance. Journal of Health Economics. 32, 850–862.
The Regence Group (2008) Regence Survey Shows Steep Health Plan Learning Curve 09/22/2008. The Regence Group. Retrieved from http://news.regence.com/releases/regence-survey-shows-steep-health-plan-learning-curve.
Quincy, L. (2012c). What’s Behind the Door: Consumers’ Difficulties Selecting Health Plans. Consumers Union. Retrieved from http://consumersunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Consumer_Difficulties_Selecting_Health_Plans_Jan2012.pdf.

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