Almost. :)

There is this “gang of six” that are three Republicans and three Democrats who are trying to solve the problem from the right direction:

What’s the problem, and how can we solve it?

The problem is only one thing in the US healthcare industry. Cost. So how do you reduce cost?

There plan, is a Co-Op. I love that idea. Member owned health insurance company. I think the biggest issue today with healthcare costs, is the people paying, and the people getting the service are never the same people. If the Health Insurance company was member owned, I think the healthcare industry could move in the right direction with respect to cost.

The “Almost”, is that they want to seed this new Co-Op, and then leave it alone. My question is if this is a good enough idea to work, why are they not working now, and if it’s because the law prohibits their existence, then I say just change the law, and let them grow from the people, and don’t seed them.

Still, it’s the best Idea I have heard yet from Washington.

What's funny is the extreme liberals are railing against this right now. It shows that they don't really care about costs, or the little guy. They care about control.

Co-ops are awesome. A co-op can have a total monopoly and still operate as if under perfect competition because it has no motivation to price gouge its own membership.

This is indeed a great idea, as long as the co-op is big enough to effectively lower costs. If it isn't big enough to force serious competition, or maybe even provide its own services, the prices for medical labour, equipment and drugs won't be effected, and the only cost saved will be profit-taking on the part of the insurer. Better than nothing, but I don't think that will be enough to effectively control costs.

Co-ops have a difficult time forming in an established market, that's why it needs to be 'seeded.' A group of individuals has to be pretty hard pressed by a dysfunctional market before they're willing to invest the money and take the risk on a co-op, and established industries will usually do what they do and respond by trying to choke off the new competition.

So the people buying insurance own the insurance company, you say?

I love co-ops! This is a great idea, seriously, I do think that seeding is a good idea provided they do actually leave them alone after seeding. This is an example of politicians actually working together instead of bickering all the time. Unfortunately this only works in groups from 2 to about 12 people, any bigger than that and it just become a partisan bitch-fest.

**Goes to mark "agreed with Mafoo" on calendar**

Yep.

I have USAA car insurnace. It's member owned. The CEO of USAA answers to me (and all the other members). I get a profit check every year as well.

Now

Correct me if I'm wrong

Isn't that basically the worker (in this case the capital-providers) owning the means of production (insurance)?

Wow, a thread we all agree on. Love it!

I mean, I just thought that workers owning the means of production was a Marxist ideal.

@TheRealMafoo

In other words what you are saying is thanks to Obama, and the Democrats being willing to grab this third rail of politics. We might actually get some resolution one way or another. Whether you like it or not they made health care an issue it would not have been had it been a Republican in the white house, or if the congress was more evenly divided.

This is an interesting concept that all parties should look at. This could reduce profiteering in the health sector. Where too much of the money going in is pure profit. This could help to reduce costs, and it could even spur on greater competition. I would say if this was offered through my employer I would have to seriously consider it.