There’s a political battle underway over health care subsidies, and it’s leaving rural Wisconsin at a crossroads. Here with some perspective is Ben Nelson, the new executive director of the Cooperative Network.
CN is the trade association that supports cooperatives across Wisconsin and Minnesota across roughly 20 sectors, including agriculture, energy, and rural economic development. Nelson has a 20-year career behind him in the economic growth space, most of that time in Wisconsin. He actually grew up on a deer farm, but most recently, he was the executive director of the Kewaunee County Economic Development Corp.
Nelson says the expiration of federal health care subsidies sent ripples through the agricultural community. The impact is felt most acutely in rural areas, he says, where nearly a third of Wisconsin’s farmers rely on marketplace plans to maintain their livelihoods.
The legislative framework for a subsidy extension is currently stalled in the Senate.
“When I look across the cooperative landscape here for 2026, I see some real headwinds, but also some real opportunities as well, if we kind of lean into the cooperative model,” Nelson says.
The Cooperative Network is advocating for a return to proven local models, such as the Farmers Health Cooperative. It would provide a safety net independent of shifting federal winds.
“Disruptions obviously are making for some tough choices between health care and farm survival for some of these farms in rural Wisconsin,” Nelson emphasizes.
Nelson says while the deadline for healthcare.gov may have passed, you can still audit your 2026 options. Consider a Health Savings Account to manage those high deductibles, or run your income numbers carefully to avoid the “subsidy cliff,” or the loss of ACA premium tax credits when a household’s income slightly exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
