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missouri news
Missourinet: St. Louis businessman says health care reform needed, 9/7/09
With President Obama set to address a joint session of Congress about health care tomorrow evening, a St. Louis businessman makes his case for why health care reform is needed.
Missourinet: A health care solution from Missouri, maybe, 9/9/09
Senator McCaskill suggests a government-run health insurance co-op might be a answer to questions about the most effective way to reform healthcare. And she says the concept is not new for Missourians.
Kansas City Star: Small businesses explore new ways to cut the costs of health care, 9/14/09
Since Mail Print Inc. was founded in 1988, its rates for employee health insurance have risen every year.
national news
Baltimore Sun: Young adults a key to health care reform, 9/11/09
In the debate over health care reform, Stokes and his peers are known as "invincibles," strong and healthy young adults who have no experience with wallet-crippling illness and feel they have no need for coverage.
New York Times: Last year's poverty rate was highest in 12 years, 9/11/09
In the recession, the nation’s poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent last year, up from 12.5 percent in 2007, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Census Bureau. The report also documented a decline in employer-provided health insurance and in coverage for adults.
Los Angeles Times: Explaining the $900 billion health care price tag, 9/14/09
In his speech to a joint session of Congress, President Obama said his healthcare overhaul would cost "around $900 billion over 10 years" -- a hefty price tag but substantially less than the projected cost of some of the proposals lawmakers are considering. Here is a look at what that number.
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cover missouri feature
Health Cooperatives
Do they have a place in health reform?
A cooperative (or co-op) is an organization owned by and operated for the benefit of people who use its services. Members of the co-op have ownership and elect a governing body for the organization. Thus co-ops must be responsive to their members, not shareholders.
Within the health care arena, co-ops are a means of pooling the purchasing power of individuals or small businesses to access affordable health coverage. Premiums paid by members would be used to cover the cost of claims. Generally operated as non-profits, any profits from the health co-op are invested into the organization in the form of increased benefits or lower premiums.
The basic idea is that health co-ops would be independent consumer-driven insurance options that could compete with existing insurance companies. Enrollment would be open for individuals who buy their own insurance coverage and small businesses which often pay higher rates than larger companies. It is believed that health co-ops would lower health insurance costs for these groups by creating larger risk pools.
While the health co-op model may be attractive to policymakers because it creates a private market option to increase competition in the insurance market, implementation of this model involves significant obstacles. Some of these include:
- Initial start-up costs are prohibitive;
- There are state regulations that bar the development of some co-ops; and
- Ability to compete with large insurers is dependent on member enrollment.
Read An Examination of Health Cooperatives
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