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Tell the Senate the Health Co-Op Is a Cop-Out
  1. Signatures
    332 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Sen. Olympia Snowe (+ 13 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME)
      • Sen. Thomas Carper (DE)
      • Sen. Bill Nelson (FL)
      • Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI)
      • Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ)
      • Sen. Maria Cantwell (WA)
      • Sen. John Rockefeller (WV)
      • Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR)
      • Sen. John Kerry (MA)
      • Sen. Max Baucus (MT)
      • Sen. Kent Conrad (ND)
      • Sen. Jeff Bingaman (NM)
      • Sen. Charles Schumer (NY)
      • Sen. Ron Wyden (OR)
  2. Created By
    Timothy Foley
    New York, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter
Why This Is Important

Most of the debate in Congress has focused on whether the health care reform bill should include a public health insurance option that competes with for-profit insurance.  Such a public plan would be run by the government, similar to Medicare, and expand choice while driving down costs.  No surprise, private for-profit insurance is set against any competition with public coverage, and Republicans in the Senate do not want to give Americans the option of choosing public or private.

Sen. Kent Conrad has suggested establishing one or many non-profit health co-ops instead of a public plan, but the idea is hazy.  Will it be regional or state-based, thereby completely defeating the purpose of a national public plan with economy of scale and bargaining clout?  What happens to small businesses above 10 employees?  How will these co-ops fit into the architecture of a National Health Exchange where customers will be able to take their income-based subsidies and compare like-to-like among the private plans?  What happens if you want to join a co-op but can’t afford it?  Despite having answers to none of these questions, too many are looking at this as a possible compromise position.

However, we have plenty of non-profit insurance plans and options already.  They have done little to control costs or expand access, even when they compete effectively with for-profit insurance.  Conrad’s home state of North Dakota has 475,000 people (69% of the market) enrolled in the not-for-profit North Dakota Blue Cross Blue Shield.  It hasn’t helped.  Premiums jumped 74% in the past seven years.

Tell the Senate Finance Committee that a co-op will not reduce the influence of for-profit insurance and expand coverage and, as such, is no substitute for real reform.

Recent Signatures

A health co-op will not change the game

Dear Senators

I commend you for your fortitude in fighting to make quality, affordable health care for all a reality this year.  But I cannot help but express my strong disappointment at the notion that an ill-defined non-profit health co-op is in any way an acceptable substitute for giving Americans the choice of a public health insurance option.

We know that public coverage has, on the whole, more ably controlled costs than private, for-profit insurance.  We know that a national public plan will have substantial bargaining clout, low administrative costs, and most important of all, an incentive towards quality that private insurance lacks.  A public plan would force private insurance to compete on cost and quality, not on attracting the healthiest customers and denying care.  In short, it would change the game.

You have demonstrated in your options documents that a public plan can be structured in many different ways, and all economic modeling suggests that it would be successful in expanding access, controlling costs and improving quality.  Indeed, the main argument seems to be that it would be too successful. 

In contrast, the co-op proposal which has been pushed in the media this past week is not credible as an alternative.  I understand you're still trying to come up with the exact details, but the co-op represents something we already have.  There are any number of not-for-profit insurance plans out there.  They have done nothing to change the game.  As only one example, North Dakota has 475,000 people enrolled in the not-for-profit North Dakota Blue Cross Blue Shield.  They are quite successful in that they represent 69% market share for the state.  However, this has done nothing for affordability, and nothing to keep private insurance's feet to the fire.  Premiums jumped 74% in the past seven years in North Dakota. 

As a good rule of thumb, <em><b>if your proposed solution is something that we already have, by definition it hasn't been an adequate solution to our health care crisis</b></em>.

I recognize that this is a difficult climate for compromise, but a health co-op is simply not a substitute.&nbsp; It's a cop-out.&nbsp; Americans deserve to have the choice of a public health insurance plan.

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