Iowa Farmers Union: End of ACA Tax Credits a Major Blow to Rural America

Members of the Iowa Farmers Union say they agree with Republicans that rising health care costs need to be addressed, but they argue ending Affordable Care Act tax credits without a replacement will only make the problem worse for rural families and small business owners.

Iowa Farmers Union Executive Director Matt Russell said during an online news conference that eliminating the enhanced tax credits will significantly increase costs for many Iowans who buy their own insurance.

“What they have done is raised the costs for Iowans, including family farmers and rural entrepreneurs, by thousands of dollars,” Russell said.

According to KFF, a national health care research organization, about 27 percent of U.S. farmers, ranchers and agribusiness managers rely on ACA marketplace subsidies to purchase health insurance.

Seth Watkins, a Page County farmer who raises cattle, sheep and bees, said his family of four currently pays about $600 a month for health insurance. Without the expanded tax credits, that cost would jump to nearly $2,300 a month in 2026.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that farmers and independent business people buy our own insurance,” Watkins said. “I hear politicians talk about us being the backbone of the economy, yet many of them have great benefits. I’d like them to put themselves in our shoes and understand what this is like.”

Monroe County farmer Beth Hoffman, who raises cattle and goats, said she and her husband were paying about $300 a month for coverage. Keeping the same level of insurance next year would have cost them four times that amount, forcing them to switch to a bare-bones plan with a $7,000 deductible.

“Here we are in the United States of America, with this great health care system and all this wealth,” Hoffman said. “It’s very disturbing on many levels.”

Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman, who farms corn and hay in northern Polk County, said his family’s insurance costs will double next year.

“Our farmers right now are meeting with their lenders just to figure out how to get next year’s crop in the ground,” Lehman said. “The last thing we need right now is an increase in health care costs.”

Under current law, ACA tax credits remain available for households earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. However, expanded subsidies for households above that threshold, first enacted in 2021, are scheduled to expire December 31.

Open enrollment for 2026 coverage on the ACA marketplace continues, though the deadline to sign up for a policy starting January 1, 2026, was Tuesday. Plans purchased between December 16, 2025, and January 15, 2026, will take effect February 1.