Private NFPO Co-Op Instead of Public Plan

[Dave020]

Sebelius: Public insurance option not essential - Yahoo! News

Seems there is movement afoot to go in the direction of a private not-for-profit co-op instead of the government public plan.

 

[Winter_123]

Sebelius: Public insurance option not essential - Yahoo! News

Seems there is movement afoot to go in the direction of a private not-for-profit co-op instead of the government public plan.

Yup. The dem strategists gave up on the public option about five weeks ago other than as a bargaining chip. They dont really need it anyway in the long run. A socialist government can regulate the "private co-ops" almost as an extension of government and achieve the same result. It actually works a little better because it lets both dems and republicans tell their constituents that it is still in the private sector. Plus, and this is a huge plus, it lets the socialists cost-shift the expense of reform over to the private sector though various mandates. And, as is true of every socialist government on earth, the government never really goes away. Not getting costs down through co-ops? Maybe we will have a public option next year to fix that. You have plans in the co-op and exchanges that are not GI? No problem but there will be no tax credit or subsidy for them. Not offering gym membership as part of the National Wellness and Prevention Program? No problem but your plan can't participate in the government sponsored negotiated prescription drug program then.

Change you can believe in.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

So...how would this affect us?

 

[Rivers1]

A co-op is a finely dressed-up public option in disguise.

All a public option or co-op does is give the government a way to "back into" a single payer system in the near future. Their strategy is to get some kinda public plan working now as a means to have an "in" in the game and then crowd out the private companies with regulations.

Small businesses will dump their employees into the public option because it will make more financial sense to pay the 8% tax than provide healthcare to workers themselves. Watch it happen from day one the bill goes into effect!

 

[Winter_123]

So...how would this affect us?

Most likely it will be a lot like dealing with the MA/CMS world. Could be a micro-gold rush in the beginning but that will pass as the government and the carriers figure out how to do a workaround. And, as with MA's and all the regulations, some agents will get giddy and say that it will only drive the bad agents out who give the business a bad name, blah, blah, blah. As with medicare advantage though, the day will never come again when you can just run your business without trying to figure out what the impact of the next rumored regulation will be. That is a permanent feature of the health insurance business now and will never go away. Probably there will still be lots of opportunities for the highly-nimble. Those who say "just let me know what happens, otherwise it is a waste of time talking about all of it" might be right, or they might get crushed by those who are learning to surf off of each change. Don't know. Each according to their survival style. I am going to get in.

Change you can believe in.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

As an example...If we enrolled clients in the co-ops...I assume our cut would be in the 5%-12% range. And I assume there will still be a big market of people wanting ind. coverage outside of the co-ops...especially in coverage is required.