E-Malt.com News article: USA: Cargill AgHorizons and Wells Fargo Join Forces to improve healthcare affordability for farm families

Cargill announced on January 17 that Cargill AgHorizons, in collaboration with Wells Fargo, is introducing a new way to help farm families pay for their healthcare expenses and save for the future. This offering, called Harvest Health™, combines a health savings account (HSA) provided by Wells Fargo with funding for the account provided by Cargill. Harvest Health gives farm families the opportunity to more closely manage their own healthcare spending, control their health insurance premiums, and set aside tax-favored dollars for future medical expenses.

According to Cargill officials, no other comparable vehicle for funding one’s health care expenses is currently offered to farm families, who have seen health insurance premiums jump nearly 60 percent since the year 2000.

“Producers have increasingly cited rising healthcare costs as one of the biggest challenges facing their families — and their farm businesses,” said Cargill AgHorizons President Dan Dye, adding that a number of U.S farm family members today work off-farm to access affordable healthcare coverage. “Among the many solutions we have developed to help farmers prosper, Harvest Health represents a new level of innovation, creatively helping farm families address the skyrocketing healthcare costs facing them today and putting them in greater control in how they manage those expenses.”

Harvest Health combines a qualifying, high-deductible health plan with a tax-exempt health savings account. Participants are able to withdraw funds from their account at any time, tax-free, to pay for eligible medical expenses. Like an IRA or 401(k), any earnings or unused balances can grow tax-free year after year and be used for medical expenses later in life, when one’s healthcare needs may be greater.

Under the Harvest Health offering, participants choose their own health insurance coverage through a Cargill partnership with eHealth, Inc., an online option that allows individuals and families to find and buy the right plan at a cost they can afford, or through their local insurance agent. Farmers who enroll in Harvest Health can choose among six Wells Fargo Advantage mutual fund options. The level of funding that Cargill contributes to a participant’s Harvest Health account is based on a grain delivery commitment made to Cargill.

“We are pleased to partner with Cargill to offer Harvest Health’s many benefits to farm families,” said Chris Crone, vice president and relationship manager for Wells Fargo in St. Paul, Minn. “Harvest Health provides a flexible, easy and affordable way for farm families to take greater charge of their healthcare costs and, potentially, to build savings for the future.”

Grain producers are encouraged to talk to their insurance agents or visit eHealth for information (http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/cargill) on available high-deductible health plans, or to visit www.cargillHSA.com to learn more about the Harvest Health offering.

Note to editors: Media members, along with their readers/listeners, are welcome to log in — or physically attend — one of the 35 Harvest Health web-cast presentations at 7 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 19—see www.cargillHSA.com for instructions, and media kit information.

About Cargill:

A business unit of Cargill, Incorporated, Cargill AgHorizons (http://www.cargillaghorizons.com) is a customer-focused organization working to bring product and service solutions to producers. Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 124,000 employees in 59 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed.


24 January, 2006