Co-Op Proposal An Effort To Kill The Public Plan

The Senate Finance Committee today has unveiled a health care reform plan that does not include a public health insurance option. It instead proposes the creation of health co-operatives. At a media teleconference, I explain why this will not work and should be seen for what it is: an effort to kill what would be an effective competitor to the private insurance market.

A public health insurance option would provide a cost and quality benchmark for private insurers, a backup for people who could not get access to private insurers and a cost-control backstop that would drive innovation and efficiencies that private insuers could use. A co-operative would not have the reach necessary to fulfill these functions successfully in a market dominated by a a few large players.