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Public option hot again?

Posted: Oct 12, 2009

The group, America's Health Insurance Plans, released a report claiming that the new health care reform bill will drive up insurance premiums because not everyone will be forced into the system. Without a very large pool that includes healthy people, the insurance companies insist, they will have to pay out too much. (I'm crying crocodile tears here.)

This might bring the public option back strongly if the dems finally say, "Enough of this crap!"

We can only hope.

;

Coop is the next best thing to PO - Me

[ In Reply To ..]
And it is part of the plan being voted on Tuesday.

I called my Senator and that's what they told me.

We already have coops - NJ

[ In Reply To ..]
I'd really prefer a public option. Coops already exist.

Isn't Blue Cross a coop?

NJ

No, I don't believe Blue Cross qualifies ~ sm - Anoni~

[ In Reply To ..]
Co-ops are supposedly not for profit and owned by their members. Up here Group Health is the only one I know of.

Blue Cross is definitely for profit!

co-op - cj

[ In Reply To ..]
Blue Cross is a for-profit company. Co-ops are member owned and not for profit. Co-ops are designed to offer coverage at a lower cost based on the large numbers of people involved and they compete with the private insurers. Co-ops are owned by the people who have their insurance with them, called "member-owned" so they are basically insurance companies owned by the people they insure. They are made up of xx number of members, so the costs of care get spread out across all those people. Since co-ops are not interested in profits, their costs are real costs, and not inflated by administrative costs. Additionally, because co-ops only collect what they spend, they have no tax liability, keeping costs even lower.

The up side of co-ops is the fact that since they represent thousands of members they have better negotiating power with providers, keeping costs lower than individual insurance (private insurance) would be. Additional savings come from the absence of profit pursuit and their non-taxable status.

One important disadvantage to co-ops as they exist right now is that they are not necessarily required to follow the same regulations and guidelines that private insurers are. If a co-op runs out of money, there may not be the same kinds of safeguards in place to make sure the members would be able to have their healthcare needs covered.

It will be interesting to see how the govt proposes to structure the co-ops, eligibility criteria, and how successful they can be in keeping costs affordable, etc. I am really pretty anxious to see how that works.

Some, not all - NJ

[ In Reply To ..]
In think BC/BS started as a coop and there are still some states in which it functions as such. There are other coops, I'm pretty sure, and some people like them, some don't, but no members are wildly enthusiastic that I've heard about.

The upside of them that you mentioned (representing so many that they have better negotiating power) would be even stronger in a public option. The downside that you mentioned (not having to follow the regulations and guidelines and possibly running out of money) are pretty scary.

NJ

co-op - cj

[ In Reply To ..]
Can you explain why you think the upside of a co-op would be better with a public option? Yes, it would involve a lot more people so better negotiating power in numbers, but would it not also involve a lot more risk and thus more expense? I am assuming that many people who would use this would be those who have been previously "uninsurable" for whatever reason. If they have been uninsurable in the past, those expenses would probably be higher than average. I know you will argue that we pay for them now, but what I am looking for is why would this be different? What would make it better for everyone, not just those who are now without insurance. Okay, I realize that may be way too simplistic of an explanation, but how would funding be maintained if there is greater expense? Would that not skew the costs greatly? And without significant regulation regarding the above-mentioned downside, wouldn't we end up with an upside down version of what we have now, which would mean you or I may pay forever, but it would run out of money before we ever needed it, and you and I would be left without coverage even though we provided the funding for everyone else??

I will try - NJ

[ In Reply To ..]
Here are my basic premises:
We already have coops. They are nothing new and therefore I have no reason to believe they will change the current dismal picture.
The public option will expand the number of people paying into the system. While many may have been deemed "uninsurable" I think there are many who just don't have insurance right now because their employers do not offer it to them or they are self-employed. So, there is a large pool of fairly healthy people who are uninsured.

I get your argument, I think ;)

Mainly I just don't see coops as being a change.

NJ

I think that fairly healthy people... - Kendra

[ In Reply To ..]
who have no insurance now, will increase their trips to the doctor over stupid little things, if they are insured, thus actually driving costs up, not down. I have been without insurance. I did not go to the doctor in the 5 years I did not have insurance at all. (I did go to the county health clinic to get a tetanus shot for $75 when a horse stepped on my hand, which would have been cheaper at a private clinic, but there was a national shortage and the county health clinic was the only place that had it, which I paid for out of pocket.) The decision to not have insurance was a financial (albeit fairly stupid) decision, that luckily worked out well for me. Now that I have insurance, I go to the doctor for whatever stupid thing I need. I think that this will overwhelmingly be the case and you and I will foot the bill.

Maybe, but I didn't - NJ

[ In Reply To ..]
Some people will abuse it, no doubt. But some who currently have insurance don't go to the doctor unless they have to.

When I was working outside the home and had insurance, I didn't go to the doctor more than once a year (for a physical) unless something wouldn't stop bothering me. At my age, I know my body doesn't recover as well as it did when I was young, so that means/meant I would go to the doctor for things that lasted a month or more.

I haven't heard anything about advertising reform for drug companies. That would be a good thing, I think. I don't think people should be going to the doctor asking for something they saw on tv. And I'm tired of the ads for those who have trouble getting/keeping erections.

The drug companies wouldn't spend on tv advertising unless it was working. Let's get rid of prescription ads on tv?

NJ

Agreed. That and get rid of advertising for political candidates - Sheeples

[ In Reply To ..]
There is no reason for drug companies to advertise their "products" any more than there is a reason for political candidates to advertise his/her "product" on TV or in print.

If people want to learn about candidates, then it should be, IMHO, non-profit televised debates and/or nonprofit websites.

Costs for major commercial campaigning for either pharmaceuticals or candidates is a prohibitive and discriminatory measure for the common man to run and investigate other options.

Wow! I couldn't agree more with that! - Nikki

[ In Reply To ..]
There are probably millions of worthy, smart Americans who would be excellent representatives in both houses of Congresses but who simply can't afford to pay/play the game to get there.

That's why we have so many millionaires in Congress today -- that and the gazillions they get from special interest groups -- and these people forget (or never knew) what it's like to be an everyday American.

About coops - Kendra

[ In Reply To ..]
I worry that coops really will not be any cheaper than regular insurance. I worry because I already belong to a power coop. In the same area, my power bill last year through Mississippi power was far cheaper than it is through Coast Electric Power Association (a coop), plus the deposit was twice as much. To further this, I forgot to pay my bill until three days before it was due. I called them to tell them that I put the payment in bill pay and it would be there the day after the due date and they told me if they did not have it by 8 a.m. the day after the due date, someone would be dispatched to shut off the power. (I understand that this was my fault, but no utility company ever has come to shut anything off one day past the due date before.) I do not know why a cooperative is more expensive than a for profit company, but in this case, they are. I worry that all insurance companies will be put out of business and we will be left with this sort of situation.

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