Would you support a health care cooperative that included federal employees

[Tony_FLADEM]

Would you support a non-profit health care cooperative that included federal employees? It would be run in the private sector, but would include federal employees so it would have the necessary bargaining power and influence to compete with health insurance companies.

[tularetom]

1. The question is why would any federal employees agree to that?

[Warpy]

2. No. They don't work

The "cooperative" soon represents one or two giant insurers who lock out other plans. Once that degree of monopoly is achieved, there is no incentive to contain administrative costs or to avoid cheating subscribers.

See Iowa's experience with cooperatives to see why it doesn't work.

There absolutely has to be a public option. Nothing else will give the insurance giants a reason to trim those administrative costs and stop engaging in fraud.

(don't kid yourself that laws against fraudulent practices will work. The onus is always on a sick person to try to fight the bastards)

[D-Lee]

8. Agree, without capitalization, a "co-op" structure could only be a way to get group rates

From whom or what? From a private insurer.

Without front money to cover initial claims even at typical claims levels (and remember that experiences like MassHealth indicate that initial claims are higher than typical because people are making up for times when they could not afford health care), I just don't see how a co-op plan is really anything more than a fancy way to get group health rates.

Just saying ...

[DJ13]

3. No

For one thing that would probably increase rates on existing Federal employees.

For another, suggesting co-ops is just a means for the insurance supporters in Congress to try and get rid of a public option.

People need to think.....if it was as effective for people as a public option would they be trying so hard to push the idea instead of just going for a public option?

[Cleita]

4. No. I don't support health cooperatives at all. After looking at them, they don't

behave much better than other insurers, which is because unlike other kinds of cooperatives, health care can't be treated like a commodity to be traded. It's a human necessity.

[hlthe2b]

5. No.... you want to lower prices, you have to get the profit out

F__K the damned bloated insurance grifters.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. NO, the compromise was public option

get it now?

[tosh]

7. No. It's still $$ for Big Insurance.

I don't believe in susbsidies for BIGCORP.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. A nonprofit corporation or co-op is not INHERENTLY a bad idea, but

neither has ever worked well in the U.S. I actually belong to a health care co-op, but it functions like any other HMO and certainly isn't cheap. It's as big as most of the local HMO players, but there is no sign of its being more efficient or better in any way. And Blue Cross/Blue Shield USED to be "nonprofits" until they got honest & just retreaded themselves as for-profit corporations.

The German health care system, on the other hand, is (I believe) based on true private nonprofit corporations that are toughly regulated to ensure that they actually stay nonprofit.