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Missouri Senate gives first-round approval to bill letting Farm Bureau sell member health coverage
Summary
The Missouri Senate advanced Senate Bill 79, sponsored by Sen. Curtis Gregory of Marshall, which would allow the Missouri Farm Bureau to sell health coverage to its members; Sen. Tracy McCreery sought guardrails for private insurers. Another positive vote would send the measure to the Missouri House of Representatives.
Senator Curtis Gregory of Marshall sponsored Senate Bill 79, and the Missouri Senate gave the measure first-round approval Tuesday; the bill would allow the Missouri Farm Bureau to sell health coverage to its members.
The bill would modify provisions relating to health care and follows similar proposals offered in previous years. Supporters say it would expand options for Farm Bureau members; critics and some senators urged safeguards for consumer protection.
“What this would do is would have allowed the Missouri Farm Bureau to sell health coverage to its members,” Gregory said.
Senator Tracy McCreery of St. Louis County said the Legislature should add protections. “Insurance companies are for profit companies, and I think that there need to be some basic guardrails to make sure that there’s some parameters that are consistent,” McCreery said.
Senators gave Senate Bill 79 first-round approval on Tuesday evening. According to the Senate’s procedural sequence noted in the session, another positive vote would send the measure to the Missouri House of Representatives for consideration.
The Missouri Senate remains in its 11th week of session; the chamber is about one month from the delivery deadline for the fiscal year 2026 state operating budget, which must be delivered to the governor by 6 p.m. on Friday, May 9, reporters said.
