Ohio committee hears competing views on Farm Bureau health plans that would be exempt from state insurance rules

Columbus — The Ohio House Insurance Committee held a third hearing on House Bill 99, which would permit nonprofit agricultural membership organizations to offer health care benefit coverage that is explicitly exempted from state insurance laws and must be labeled in writing as “not insurance.” Representative Barhorst moved and the committee accepted an amendment (AM-136-0363) clarifying the exemption and adding references to the physician health plan partnership act and laws governing multiple-employer welfare arrangements.

The measure matters because it would create a legal pathway for Farm Bureau–style membership plans that operate outside the Ohio Department of Insurance’s regulatory authority, and opponents say that could leave people with cancer and other serious conditions without state consumer protections. "House Bill 99 ... would leave Ohioans, including cancer patients, exposed to medical and financial harm," said Lee Almeda, government relations…