Co-ops/Americans Would Benefit From Cooperative Health Insurance

[OneGrassRoot]

I think Americans would benefit from exploring the cooperative model for ALL industries much more. For example, we have many authors here at DU; if anyone is interested in exploring a publishing cooperative -- or ANY type of cooperative further -- please let me know. I've been a huge proponent of co-ops (worker-owned, member-owned, marketing, professional, etc.) for many years. :)


WASHINGTON, DC -- (Marketwire) -- 01/13/11 -- Calling cooperative enterprise the "best business model for economic and social progress," the CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association Paul Hazen recommended today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ensure that health insurance issuers created through the "Consumer Owned and Oriented Plans" (CO-OP) act as cooperatives. Hazen delivered NCBA's recommendations during testimony before the CO-OP Advisory Board which met today to begin the work of implementing the program, part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was signed into law in 2010.

Invited to testify for his expertise on the cooperative business model, Hazen discussed the value cooperatives bring to their members and challenges that threaten their success. "Cooperatives are member-owned and democratically controlled enterprises that provide services or products to their members," Hazen said. "Cooperatives deliver value to members and their communities because they respond to needs and through their commitment to cooperative principles and values. By operating at cost and returning the savings to members, cooperatives are the most effective corporate structure to address economic and social needs," he continued. Among the threats to the success of developing cooperatives is access to capital.

"Principles and practices matter," said Hazen, emphasizing that cooperatives operate under a set of seven established principles, including that members own and control the cooperative, that members receive benefit from their economic participation and that cooperatives demonstrate a concern for community.

The CO-OP program calls for the creation of nonprofit health insurance issuers which would be consumer-run organizations -- although not specifically cooperatives. NCBA advocates that consumer-run and controlled entities that operate as cooperatives would be in the best interest of the American public. Hazen cautioned that the creation of doctor or provider-owned or run entities would be in direct violation of the Act.

Full article here: http://www.sys-con.com/node/1676341

[mmonk]

1. When I saw the title, I knew it was you.

Co-ops seems our only choice outside of a state going single payer.:hi:

[OneGrassRoot]

5. ...

:hi:

[Gaedel]

2. Cooperatives and Mutual Insurance Companies

Work very well for insurance purposes. One of the most successful of all of these type companies is USAA which was started by a bunch of Army officers after World War I when no one would write auto insurance for Army officers as they moved around from station to station (I have been a member since 1964).


The problem is that people do not want health "insurance" to insure them against a loss they cannot afford (i.e. catastrophic health insurance). What people want is fully paid medical, dental, and pharmaceutical care. Such a coop or mutual company must then have as much money going in as it has paying out. As a result, the average person paying in must pay as much as the average person taking out.

If we really want single payer, the only way to get it is to expand Medicare and find a dedicated tax source to pay for it.

[mmonk]

3. There is the reserve quotient or problem.

But the good part is members don't have to pay for propping up profits and stock prices.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. I agree.

I'm not a fan of insurance in general but posted the article to generate discussion about cooperatives, beyond food and utility co-ops that Americans are familiar with. Cooperative structures can be applied to so much more, and it seems to be the direction we should be looking.

A healthcare co-op is more in alignment with what I'd like to see, not insurance.

:hi:

[ejpoeta]

6. imagine if we took what we are paying our insurance companies and just paid that towards medicare

for all! Everyone is automatically in and you just pay based on your income into the system like you pay for your insurance while working. IF you aren't working because you are unemployed or disabled or something, then you don't have to pay in. Makes sense to me.

[northoftheborder]

7. This would be a worthy way of getting out of the .....

.....corporate owned health organizations. There is a long tradition of Americans forming cooperatives to provide services. One which I'm familiar with because of my rural background are the electric cooperatives in the rural and remote areas all over the country which formed in the 1940's to provide electric service to these areas, which were ignored and unserved by the large utility companies, which, while refusing to provide service: too expensive ( less profit), also fought tooth and nail the very existence of these coops. The coops, made up of the farmers and ranchers who received the service, own the coops, and run them. They still exist, have worked with great success. The federal government helped them get started with loans to get the infrastructure built (lines, poles, etc.) then was paid back by the coops over time.

There were other coops, telephone, commodity and grocery, others I'm not familiar with. I would be greatly in favor in looking into getting health coops started. There may be some already.

[Recursion]

8. Baucus suggested co-ops and DU freaked out

Why do people suddenly like them?

[loudsue]

9. I am VERY interested in this, One Grass....

This is what I wanted to participate in after the first time I heard about Mondragon in Spain. IMHO, this is the wave of the future to rid ourselves of corporate control on all fronts. And it had better take hold before the corporate owned legislature outlaws it all.

I want to join this group!

kickin' it
:kick:

[OneGrassRoot]

10. If you would kindly PM me....

That way I can keep track of those truly interested in exploring co-ops, of all types, and contact about a group where we can discuss.

Thanks, loudsue!

:hi:

[loudsue]

12. LOL! Since I wrote that, I've already joined the NCBA, paid dues,

read the web site start-to-finish. THIS is what liberals and progressives of all stripes need to start pushing.

[OneGrassRoot]

11. More info for those who may be interested but never thought about it:

Here's a thread I started in the summer, posting any links I happened to come across that mentioned different types of co-ops:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=264&topic_id=454&mesg_id=454

Mondragon, of Spain, is mentioned as the ultimate example of a successful, multifaceted cooperative enterprise. Here is an article about the USW working with Mondragon:

http://www.prosperityagenda.us/node/4372

About MONDRAGON:

The MONDRAGON Corporation mission is to produce and sell goods and provide services and distribution using democratic methods in its organizational structure and distributing the assets generated for the benefit of its members and the community, as a measure of solidarity. MONDRAGON began its activities in 1956 in the Basque town of Mondragon by a rural village priest with a transformative vision who believed in the values of worker collaboration and working hard to reach for and realize the common good.

Today, with approximately 100,000 cooperative members in over 260 cooperative enterprises present in more than forty countries; MONDRAGON Corporation is committed to the creation of greater social wealth through customer satisfaction, job creation, technological and business development, continuous improvement, the promotion of education, and respect for the environment. In 2008, MONDRAGON Corporation reached annual sales of more than sixteen billion euros with its own cooperative university, cooperative bank, and cooperative social security mutual and is ranked as the top Basque business group, the seventh largest in Spain, and the world’s largest industrial workers cooperative.


:hi:

[OneGrassRoot]

13. kick for Saturday morning crowd. :) n/t