Finding affordable health insurance is a struggle for farmers, like many self-employed Americans.

About 10 percent of farmers don’t have insurance, according to The Access Project, a resource center for local communities working to improve health and health care access.

A 2007 survey found that uninsured farmers delayed needed care more than twice as frequently as those with insurance.

Twenty percent of farmers — with or without insurance — reported having medical debt. Eleven percent of the uninsured with debt faced legal actions compared with only four percent with insurance.

That’s why health care reform will be the topic of a panel discussion at the Kansas Farmers Union annual convention Friday in Lawrence.

The discussion “Exploring Health Care Reform — Canadian Style” will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Holidome and Convention Center, 200 McDonald Drive, and is open to the public.

The panelists are:

• Nial Kuyek is the former chairman of the board of directors of the Regina Community Clinic in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The clinic is a health care cooperative. He has been general manager of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan since 2008.

Dale Kuyek

Harry Van Mulligen

Svetlana Pushkareva Hutfles

Corrie Edwards advocates for affordable, accessible, and quality health care in Kansas. Edwards praised passage of recent health reform legislation because it will provide insurance coverage for more Kansans and it will provide more consumer protections.

Kim Moore

• Dale Kuyek is a licensed practical nurse in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She has worked in a private medical clinic, a cooperative community health clinic and a long-term care facility. Since 1994, Dale has worked at the Regina General Hospital in emergency and maternity.

• Harry Van Mulligen, a social and economic commentator, served 30 years as a member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly and as a Regina city council member. During his tenure, he served health and hospital boards. His interests in public policy include comparative analysis of health care systems and demographic constraints of economic policy.

• Svetlana Pushkareva Hutfles, a native of Togliatti, Russia, has been actively involved in developing community foundations worldwide. She helped establish the first community foundation in Russia. She now is executive director for the Kansas Association of Community Foundations.

• Corrie Edwards serves as executive director of the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition, a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to advocate for affordable, accessible and quality health care in Kansas. Edwards serves on numerous state and national committees on health care issues.

• Kim Moore has been president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund since 1987. Moore practiced law for 11 years in Wichita, and his practice emphasized employee benefit and tax-exempt organization matters.

The moderator will be Donn Teske, president of Kansas Farmers Union, which has 1,500 members and 8,800 associate members.

“One of the most pressing things that we deal with on a farm is adequate health care and affordable health care. That’s always harder when you are on your own rather than in a group plan,” he said. “Too many of us or our spouses have to work off the farm to supply the health insurance.”

Teske said a survey done by The Access Project found that 17 percent of its membership base had significant medical debt even though they had health insurance.

“I think it was a pretty glaring example of why some health reform is needed,” he said.