Public or Co-op? Comparing Health Options

(CBS)  It's no wonder many Americans are perplexed about a public option or confused by co-ops when even lawmakers struggle to explain them, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

"If it were a plan," said Sen. Arlen Specter, "it wouldn't be an option."

The public option, as proposed, would be run by the Department of Health and Human Services which also oversees Medicare.

With lower administrative costs, the government could offer lower insurance premiums than the private sector - giving uninsured Americans a more affordable option.

"One version of a public option would be like the way the Medicare program is run today where the government pays directly for health care. It sets regulated prices, it's take it or leave it for the doctors and it's big enough so the health care providers generally have to take it," said Mark McClellan, former director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Lawmakers Restate Support for Public Option

But with Republicans universally opposed to a public plan, some centrist Democrats are seeking a middle ground proposing regional or state health insurance "co-operatives" instead.

The co-ops would be started with government seed money, but then turned over to the members themselves to manage.

Because the co-ops would be not-for-profit, any money left over from members' annual payments would be reinvested - theoretically bringing costs down for everyone.

Thousands Quit AARP Over Health Reform

More coverage of Health Care Reform

"The co-op is, in a sense, sort of halfway there," said Dr. Peter Kongstvedt of George Mason University. "It's part of the way there, it's not run by a private company, it's run by the community."

Hundreds of health care co-ops were established in the 1930s and 40s, but just a handful exist today - like the one run by Dr. David Ores for 800 New York City restaurant workers.

"Once they're out of the way, the for-profit private insurance companies like Oxford and Aetna - once they're not involved, the cost goes down by 80 percent," Dr. Ores said.

Proponents of the public option argue that the smaller co-ops could never compete with private insurance the way a government plan could.

[taylorsucram]

Waxman & Congress are right on target! Most Americans and I mean a lot of them, cannot read, write, or understand plain english. Now, I understand that it is because their parents cannot read or write either. Our country has a lot of issues, but the inability to read and interpret a simple paragraph is one of the most frightening. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the American population, on average, as a whole, reads, writes and comprehends at an 8th Grade Level. The Republicans know that they are dealing with a bunch of 14 year old?s and so do the Insurance Companies. Now having "set the stage", can anyone explain to me why the nation's HMOs earned $6.7 billion in the first nine months of 2003, a 52 percent increase over the $4.4 billion reported in 2002 (according to Weiss Ratings, Inc)? HMO profits in California rose 46 percent in 2008, with nonprofit Blue Shield leading the pack, almost doubling its profit margin from the prior year (how does a nonprofit end up with major profits?). Let's examine the compensation of the CEO, COO, President and other Officers of these Health Insurers. Then you'll know why that "special procedure" you need cost too much but the Health Insurance Industry and the Republican party can pay for the disruptions at these so-called "Town Hall" meetings. America get a clue and quit being buffoons ( you're not even 'human' anymore you're just' consumers' and that's all you're good for ... consuming and making more consumers, no abortions, it's bad for the economy ) You will die because you can't afford "Health Care" while the rest of the "Free World" and that dinky little country called Cuba, gets their health care without someone making a massive "profit" from their illness.

As for paying for this public option health plan, Nothing provided by the Government is free. You and I pay for it with our tax dollars. Our tax dollars also pay for the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, remember those "shrink wrapped" pallets full of 100 dollar bills? Our tax dollars also pay for the ?Billions & Billions? of dollars in aid to Israel each year but I don?t see people jumping up and down and carrying loaded AR-15s and/or Glocks and screaming about ?THAT MONEY?.

[christaiam]

"The Reps meanwhile had 8 long years of total control and they sat on their hands while the Bush/Cheney crime syndicate raped the country and started their world-wide terroristic war on freedoms. "

You are a moron.

First of all, your 8 years comment is false. The Dems had control of the Senate and The House the last years of the Bush Admin, you can pretend the president controls everything and the media lapdogs like CBS can continue to spin your toil and trouble, however the Dems could have changed whatever policies they wanted, it wasn't like Bush was against throwing money at anything they wanted. The fact is...they didn't.

Oh and btw....we are still in the middle east. Obama hasn't developed any NEW policy there, the only thing he has done was finish out the strat laid out by BUSH. He can rename it all he wants, it doesn't
change the truth.

If you are really concerned for this country, you should try to stop slamming the Dems vs the Repubs. Both of them are worthless and out of touch with the REAL American people. If you are really concerned about your FREEDOMS then you should question the massive growth of Goverment and what they actually do for us, the people.

Goverment has NO business controlling Health Care, just like it has no business running our car dealerships.

Wake up! Our Freedoms are at risk now more than ever. It's not a Dems vs Repubs issue. Stop letting yourselves be force fed that concept by the media. We, the Americans, not the individual parties, are losing our country.

[flsunjnky]

Why don't you ask a question like why is America ranked 37th in health care, or why do Americans pay thousands a year more for heath care than other people in developed countries?

Our health care system is a fine example of How Not to develop a health care system.

Why are the insurance companies afraid of a public option? And, why have they spent $145 million on lobbying during the past year? hmmmm?

[marianne1111]

Why do sources talk about a co-op operating within a state or region? That sounds irrational as it would create a crippling restriction on the co-op. Organizing it by state only or by region obviously would play to the perceived weakness that a co-op can't compete with behemoth insurance companies.

Why not have a nationwide co-op?

[flsunjnky]

Since the beginning of 2008, health insurers, have spent
$145 million on lobbying, led by Blue Cross-Blue Shield
organizations and the AHIP trade group. Where did they
get the money? From the insured. We need a health care
plan that will compete with them to drive down cost.
Too bad they didn't find it fit to reduce premiums with
that money instead.

[flsunjnky]

It sometimes amazes me how ignorant that some people can be. There will be no real health care reform without some kind of public option. Some of you would just sit there and let big business insurance companies win again. They are a big piece of why we are in this mess to start with.

And the scare tactics, you play into their hand and believe them too. Go figure.

[diamruby]

Insurance companies have been raping people for years, we pay large premiums that keep getting larger every year with less benefits. They choose which doctors, dentist etc we can go to in order for them to pay. If you start using your insurance they find a way to drop your coverage. They add money to your monthly premiums as a penalty for covering your wife or children. The co-ops are the same as a Sam's Club, they charge you a fee to enter their store & their items are rarely cheaper than a regular store, they never have the same goods twice, poor service, the medical under a co-op would be the same type of warehousing. It is wrong that the government has the best of everything & want the rest of us to have nothing. If they lived on an equal basis things would change in a hurry. The big money bribes is what keeps us from having any changes. We do not have any honest, working class people in government any more they are all in it for the money & power.

[reemiep]

What makes people believe that the government can be any more efficient in controlling administrative expenses if it were to run a public option plan. Just look at the US Postal Service (projecting a 7 billion dollar loss this year) and its inability to compete with the likes of UPS, Fe Ex, et al.

[John_retired]

Hello,
A public option is NOT needed, and even CBS needs to read the bill and use facts instead of boasting claims. I got so mad at AARP that I read the bill and got lots of data, and made a website:

http://AARPLIES.com

Please READ and be informed, and make up your own minds, but government options have already put us in debt for over a Trillion dollars (that's Medicare's debt in unfunded liabilities over the next 10 years, in case you didn't know), and there are plenty of free-market solutions I listed and linked to, if you'd all just stop making claims and get informed.

John
(retired in Los Angeles)

[AK-47_Justice]

"A public option is NOT needed"
John
(retired in Los Angeles)
***********************


So johnny, as long as you have that darn socialized Medicare in your retirement, to hell with everyone else.....huh?

Why can't everyone have Medicare like you?

[TheMasses2016]

Welfare leaches and bums who've been sucking off the system their whole lives can die in the streets as far as I'm concerned. I've worked hard through school/career to get what I have and no bum is going to welch healthcare off of me.

[chitown639]

Well, if you want to live in a country where people are dying in the streets, then I suggest you leave our shores. Move to one of those half-baked countries where the government doesn't care about it's citizens enough to "insure domestic Tranquility" and "promote general Welfare"......

[AK-47_Justice]

by TheMasses2016
"....no bum is going to welch healthcare off of me."
********************************************


To the delusional republican'ts: We already have Medicaid for the poor, so your tax dollars are already paying for health care for others!

Why are these foxnewsus propagandus morons so ill-informed?