Stakeholders Should form Non-profit Grassroots Health Co-ops Now
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Related subjects: Economic Recovery, Healthcare Policy, J.E. Robertson, Legislation, Opinion, U.S. news, U.S. Politics Comments (2)
The American people have to start taking back the process of healthcare provision from the dysfunctional private insurance industry. If private, not-for-profit healthcare insurance cooperatives can meet some of the standards of existing charitable health organizations, they may be able to launch a coordinated regional and even national network of institutions able to rival and compete with private for-profit insurers, without having to match the massive wealth insurers have amassed.
The ‘public option’ for low-cost non-profit health insurance suffers from one major tactical flaw: rhetoric. It is likely a necessary component of any real market reforms designed to let insurers reform their own behavior by way of competition. But those who are most vocal about wanting market-based reforms also want to avoid such competition.
They cry ‘socialism’ in order to stop a reform designed to restore market dynamics to the marketplace. While policymakers and legislators in Washington, DC, we the people can take the lead by forging a new standard model for health insurance, free of any profit motive and aimed strictly and very seriously at effectively meeting the health needs of real people.
To do this, the various stakeholders interested in forming such a cooperative (patients, doctors, hospitals, churches, charities and possibly even states or municipalities) would need to figure out how to adequately fund a standard array of treatment options, and how to integrate the bargaining power of a variety of co-ops in different locations, with different strengths and weaknesses.
As non-profits with a focus on promoting human health and well-being, such cooperatives and cooperative networks could benefit from charitable tax credits, grants and public health funding blocks, through various federal programs administered through the states.
Health co-ops need not wait for legislative reform, assuming they meet all regulatory standards for managing pooled client funds and administer health treatment reimbursements according to already prevailing standards. While a public option and/or some legislated guarantee for health co-ops might work to reduce per-patient costs, hanging all hope in a legislative solution risks inadequate market resources to make the fix.
Grassroots organizing, however, can bring more resources, more relevant information, experience and talent, and more competitive pressure to bear on the overall health market, doing more to wrestle prices down to affordable rates. It can also give credibility to the concept of a broad-based, collaborative effort’s ability to compete with major insurers and to reset standards for patient-first health coverage.
If and when comprehensive health insurance reforms are passed, they might work to enable these grassroots non-profit cooperatives, but would likely not restrain or undermine them in any way. The reforms would be able to fit into a new pro-patient segment of the market in a way that creates a virtuous circle of value feedback, investing in patients’ health, and better health helping to bring down costs across the board.
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Discussions on healthcare reform:
- Private Not-for-profit Insurance Could Be Part of New Healthcare Market (discussion)
- Tens of Thousands Die Each Year from Lack of Healthcare Coverage (discussion)
More reporting on the healthcare reform process:
- Health Reform Requires Full-menu Insurance Exchange, including Low-cost>
- Obama’s Healthcare Address to Joint Session of Congress (video + transcript)
- Inhofe Vows to Stop Efforts to Extend Healthcare to Uninsured
- Summary of H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (transcript)
- Free Health Clinic at Inglewood Forum Attracts Thousands
- US Congress Stalling on Healthcare Reform, Despite White House Push
- Healthcare Reform Polling Data Misrepresented by National Media
- U.S. Uninsurance Rate Jumps 13% in 2 Years
- Obama Healthcare Reform Speech to the American Medical Association (transcript)
- Why Healthcare Needs a Cure: Tens of Thousands Dying, System Failing, Despite Rising Profits
- No One Should Go Bankrupt for Needing Healthcare, Ever, Period
- How to Solve Healthcare: Focus on Coverage, Cost & Cure
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