Farmers have a hard time paying for health insurance. Could this be the solution?

Subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are set to expire at the end of this month. The subject was one of the major disagreements between Democrats and Republicans that led to the government shutdown. But in the meantime, another slice of the health care economy is expanding with bipartisan support. More state farm bureaus are offering low-cost health plans for farmers that do not have to comply with the ACA.

Patrick Cooley, a reporter at Industry Dive, wrote about the trend in the Washington Post. He spoke with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal.

“The farmers who are able to get coverage that I talked to, they like it,” Cooley said. “But a lot of them don’t qualify, and their employees don’t qualify because they might have pre-existing conditions.”

Click the audio player above to hear the conversation.