The Co-ops Collapse: How GOP & HMOs Undercut Obamacare's Nonprofit Option, Leaving 500K Uninsured

[eridani]

Yep--the co-ops really cannot compete if they want to be good guys. ANY for profit insurance allowed to exist at all will guarantee that the good guys are going to finish last. And the Repukes can't wait to help make that happen.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/3/the_co_ops_collapse_how_gop

We welcome you all to Democracy Now! Steffie Woolhandler, let’s begin with you. In New York, there are well over 200,000 people who are—have insurance under what’s called Health Republic, one of these healthcare co-ops. Suddenly, last Friday, to the shock of many—even people working within the system—they were told that this healthcare co-op will close by the end of the month. That’s November. That’s before you can even get coverage in this open enrollment period. The next time is January 1st. So they have to sign up twice—right now, to fill the gap to the end of December, and then, because of IT issues—they can’t just sign up now and get that insurance from now on in another company—they have to sign up now ’til the end of December, and sign up within the open enrollment period, like a day later, for getting insurance in January. Over 200,000 people are out of insurance.

DR. STEFFIE WOOLHANDLER: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Just in New York alone.

DR. STEFFIE WOOLHANDLER: Just in New York. And 10 of the 23 co-ops have closed, and several more are expected to close soon. These nonprofit co-ops, many of us felt they were never going to be viable. These tiny insurance co-ops was like the peewee football going against the NFL. They just didn’t have the size to make it in the marketplace.

But also, they weren’t cheaters. And the way the health insurance market works is good guys finish last, and cheaters win. The way you make a killing in the health insurance market is by signing up lots of healthy people, collecting as high premiums as possible and giving them as little care as possible—and, if they get sick, figuring out ways to force them out of the insurance. That’s the way the U.S. insurance market works. And these small nonprofit co-ops were not very good at playing the game. Many of them didn’t want to play that game.

So, we’re not surprised they went under. You know, the only way to insure a population, that has worked, is through some form of nonprofit national health insurance. That’s what every other developed nation uses. And then you have everybody in what we call the same risk pool—everyone in, nobody out.

[pnwmom]

1. How are they forcing sick people out of insurance now? I know how that used to work.

I understand the problem is that the ACA was supposed to include money for helping the co-ops work out the financial kinks in the beginning years -- but the Rethugs in Congress are refusing to allocate it.

[eridani]

2. The Repub fund cutting is a big part of the problem

The rest of is that if there ae any for profit insurers in the system at all, the honest co-ops can't compete with the cheaters.