Five years ago, exploding health insurance costs forced many employees at Minnesota Pork Inc. (MPI) Farms to forgo coverage.

“Previously, we weren’t very capable of providing affordable health care for our employees,” says MPI Business Manager Ashley Winkelman. “A lot of them are 20 and 30 somethings who were going without health care because it was so unaffordable. Now, they’re able to have health, dental and eye coverage at a reasonable cost.”

The health care outlook changed dramatically for MPI’s roughly 45 employees around 2018. That year, following landmark legislation, 40 Square Cooperative Solutions began offering health care plans to Minnesota farm families and agribusiness.

“We have been with 40 Square since within their first year, and it’s been a huge blessing for us,” Winkelman says. “Other plans were astronomically priced and simply unaffordable for our employees.”

MPI started in hog production in 1992. About 10 years ago, it sold its last hog barn and now focuses primarily on agricultural production services, in addition to traditional row-crop farming.

“Anything related to ag, that’s what we do,” Winkelman says.

Working with a health care cooperative that’s tailored toward agribusiness has been a perfect fit, allowing MPI employees to choose the health care plans that best fits their needs. The savings MPI has earned since joining 40 Square allows the Amboy-based company more flexibility.

“We love the idea of 40 Square offering different plan options ranging from low to high deductibles and HSA options,” Winkelman says. “That’s been great.”

40 Square’s customer service has also made a world of difference, Winkelman says.

“The 40 Square team has gone above and beyond to work with our people,” she says. “We’re very happy.”

40 Square offers members a variety of seven health plans to choose from, including health savings account (HSA) eligible plans. Similar to traditional health insurance, 40 Square’s self-funded plans have an annual deductible, coinsurance and copays that members are responsible for. The amount of coverage received depends on the plan selected. Additional optional benefits include vision, dental and life. Other non-insurance products to enhance the health plan include: free telemedicine doctor visits, care navigators that help explain tests, claims or billing and cost comparisons for procedures. In addition, 40 Square offers AgriPlan and BizPlan, which helps farmers and agribusinesses declare medical expenses as a business expense on taxes.

For agribusinesses like MPI farms, joining is believing.

“Being part of 40 Square has changed the insurance marketplace for our employees,” Winkelman says.