Florida’s Young Growers Tuned Into Business, Beats
August 7, 2013 
The Affordable Care Act (ACA and a.k.a., “Obamacare”) implementation continues to lurch forward. With such large, game-changing legislation, many questions remain about how this not only will affect agriculture in general, but also how it will affect today’s younger individuals.
Like many folks, Florida’s GenNext Growers aren’t exactly sure how this will impact their business or themselves.
Willing to take a stab at it, here’s what one GenNexter (Kim Erickson of Erickson Farm) is saying … oh, and listening to as well.
What are your impressions of the ACA, particularly the provisions aimed at requiring younger people to obtain health coverage?
Kim: I am not impressed with the Affordable Care Act. I think the provisions requiring younger people to obtain health coverage are idealistic in theory. I do believe prevention will be required to solve the health care crisis in this country. However, I do not believe mandating insurance coverage is going to affect the change needed. Furthermore, in practice, my experience has been that due to changes required by this legislation the cost of my individual health insurance has gone up so much I had to reduce coverage by doubling my deductibles to get keep the premium affordable.
Do you have any thoughts on how the ACA might impact agriculture in general?
Kim: It seems to still be a moving target and I’ve not had a chance to digest the latest changes. I suspect that in the end, unless ag receives a workable exemption, the industry will have to follow the examples such as retail and manufacturing and work around it by reducing full-time employment, etc.
What’s your favorite song playing (in your car, iPhone, Android, iPod, etc.) right now?
Kim: I’m getting reacquainted with “Real World” by Matchbox 20.
@HerrickAFG @GenNextGrowers It’s @davematthewsbnd 4 me. Throw in some @jackjohnson, too. On the radio, U can’t get away from #BlurredLines.
— Paul Rusnak (@Paul_FLG) August 20, 2013
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In case you’re wondering, @GenNextGrowers, this afternoon’s tunes are The Black Keys & @welshlyarms (I’ll see Welshly Arms on Sunday, too).
— Christina Herrick (@HerrickAFG) August 20, 2013
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