"Democratic senator: Public health insurance option dead": "non-profit health insurance cooperatives" could be solution (Congress, interview)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – A day after President Obama appeared to suggest that his administration might be open to health care reform legislation that does not include a public health insurance option, one of Obama’s top aides on the issue left the door open to accepting nonprofit health insurance co-ops, a proposal that has gained traction in bipartisan negotiations in the Senate Finance Committee.
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At a town hall in Grand Junction, Colorado Saturday, Mr. Obama seemed to downplay the necessity of having a public insurance option in the final version of any health care reform legislation presented to him by Congress.
“The public option – whether we have it or we don’t have it – is not the entirety of health care reform,” the President said. “This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it. And, by the way, it’s both the right and the left that have become so fixated on this that they forget everything else . . .”
from Sebelius: Public insurance option not essential (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/08/16/national/w055412D05.DTL&type=news - broken link) (ZGACK has a thread on this)
Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama says a potential administration shift from a government-run health insurance to a privately run cooperative is something that opponents like him should consider.
Shelby is a vocal opponent of the health care overhaul proposed by President Barack Obama. Shelby says he sees insurance co-ops as "a step away from the government take over of the health care system."
"Democratic senator: Public health insurance option dead": "non-profit health insurance cooperatives" could be solution
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key Senate negotiator said Sunday that President Barack Obama should drop his push for a government-funded public health insurance option because the Senate will never pass it.
Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said it was futile to continue to "chase that rabbit" due to the lack of 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
"The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for a public option. There never have been," Conrad said on "FOX News Sunday."
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Conrad has proposed creating non-profit health insurance cooperatives that could negotiate coverage as a collective for their members.
He said Sunday that such cooperatives would provide the competition sought by Obama and Democratic leaders to force private insurers to hold down costs and improve practices.
Evidently this idea of nonprofit health cooperatives has been shaping up for a while. I guess the "death panels" stuff was more fun.
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama may accept nonprofit health-insurance cooperatives in place of a new government-run plan as long as consumers are guaranteed more choice and competition in buying insurance, a top aide said.
“We would be interested in that” if those conditions are met, Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s “Conversations with Judy Woodruff” airing today.
DeParle said she expected Congress to pass health-care legislation on a bipartisan vote “around Thanksgiving.”
Evidently this idea of nonprofit health cooperatives has been shaping up for a while. I guess the "death panels" stuff was more fun.
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama may accept nonprofit health-insurance cooperatives in place of a new government-run plan as long as consumers are guaranteed more choice and competition in buying insurance, a top aide said.
“We would be interested in that” if those conditions are met, Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s “Conversations with Judy Woodruff” airing today.
DeParle said she expected Congress to pass health-care legislation on a bipartisan vote “around Thanksgiving.”
Some informational "non-profit health insurance cooperative" links:
"Reuters.com asked members of our expert panel on healthcare reform what role, if any, nonprofit cooperatives should play in healthcare reform policy? Here are their responses:"
Reich is the best as usual. This entry is mostly about the health care argument, but toward the end: "Mr. Obama says he wants a public plan. But the strength of the opposition to it, along with his own commitment to making the emerging bill "bipartisan," is leading toward some oddball compromises. One would substitute nonprofit health insurance cooperatives for a public plan."
A skeptical POV. "If Senator Conrad or anyone else in Congress can come up with a proposal that meets the above principles, we'd be happy to support it, whatever it's called. As the proposal stands now, Conrad's co-ops will not bring costs down, save our economy, or allow us to choose a viable public option if we don't want to be at the mercy of private insurance. These co-ops will not solve the health care crisis, and so we oppose them."
Are these the same co-ops that, when announced they were a viable solution by some conservatives, the stock in various health insurance companies jumped significantly? The same insurance companies they talk about us being at the mercy of?
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"Democratic senator: Public health insurance option dead": "non-profit health insurance cooperatives" could be solution
