What’s in Obamacare, part 10:
Consumer Operated and Oriented Health Insurance Plan
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Does the recently passed health care reform legislation contain a public health insurance option? Simply put, no. Does it contain a confusingly worded work-around that will allow the federal government to issue public funds for what will essentially amount to a public option? You betcha!…Yep, that’s right, Obamacare contains what essentially amounts to a public option, run by non-profit(tax exempt) health insurance organizations, funded by the tax payers, determined by a panel of government bureaucrats. The bill refers to this hidden public option as the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program.
What is the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan(CO-OP) program and what does it involve?
- It is a program that will be established by the federal government to create non-profit health insurance providers that will offer government qualified health plans in the individual and small group markets.
- The government will provide loans (tax payer funded loans of course) through the CO-OP program to persons applying to become qualified non-profit health insurance issuers. The purpose of the loans is to assist in the start-up costs of the organization.
- The government will provide grants to persons applying to become qualified non-profit health insurance issuers, in order to help them meet the requirements of the state in which they are applying to become a licensed health insurance issuer.
- The government will ensure that there is enough funding to establish at least 1 non-profit health insurance issuer in each state.
- If, in a given state, no one applies to become a non-profit health insurance issuer, the government will use an unspecified amount of public funds to encourage the establishment of a non-profit health insurance issuer in that state.
- The government will establish an “advisory board” to recommend which applicants will receive public funding to start a non-profit health insurance organization…special interests come to mind.
- The organizations formed under the CO-OP program will receive tax exempt status.
What requirements does a non-profit health insurance organization have to meet in order to receive public funds?
- Must be organized under the laws of the state in which they operate, as a non-profit, member run organization.
- Must offer government approved health plans that include minimum essential benefits.
- Must not have been a health insurance issuer before July 16, 2009.
- Must not be sponsored by state or local government.
- Governance of organization activities must be subject to a majority vote of its members.
- All organization profits must be used to lower member premiums and improve benefits.
Who can apply to create a non-profit health insurance issuer under the CO-OP program?
Anyone…again, special interests come to mind.
What have we learned?
Obamacare does not contain a public option. Meaning it does not contain a government run health insurance issuer. Instead Obamacare will create a small army of 50 or more, tax payer funded, tax exempt, government bureaucrat recommended, non-profit, health insurance organizations.
Is this really any different than a public option? No, it’s taxpayer funded, and the organizations will be chosen by a government panel (who do you think they are going to pick?).
So why did they do it this way? It’s the only way they could get the votes to pass the bill in the Senate. By structuring it this way, they could say that the bill contains no public option, all the while achieving the same effect through a more abstract process.
References:
H.R 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Section 1322, pages 168-182
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I feel like our goverment is the reason that Social Security/Medicare are going (or gone) broke. When Social Security/Medicare was put in place all those years ago it was set up to be used by the people who were paying into the program. Some where along the way wives (who never paid into Social Security/Medicare) of men that were in the program were allow to collect off their husbands. Then if that wasn’t enough people that came here from other countries (which never paid one penny into the program) were allowed to collect Social Security and use the Medicare program. Also,The goverment withdrew funds from Social Security that were used for things other than Social Security. Social Security and Medicare would be in great shape if it had been used by the govement for what ever they chose. I wonder do they even pay into the program? I’m of the opinion that there wouldn’t be a problem with Social Security/Medicare if it had been used for what it was designed for only. I think the govement is the real problem with this country. Our country needs to get back to honoring the American peoples God given rights. Our rights are being taken from us more each day. Who would have ever thought that the President of the United States of America would do the things that are being done? We need to use the Constitution and Bill of Rights when making laws not breaking other laws in order to force their wishes upon us. When I say we I’m talking about the people that serve in elected offices in Washington starting with the President. Finally, I’m encouraged that there are some good people serving in Washington. These people have my total support and thanks for doing what they were elected to do.
Does anyone know about this deal with Medicare’s Substainable Growth Rate? I keep getting letters from my doctors, labs and xray providers everytime I go to them that states the following:
April 19,2010
Dear patient,
As you may have heard in the news last week, Congress has delayed for the 3rd time this year a 21% pay cut to Medicare and Tricare providers. This proposed pay cut from a formula approved by Congress several years ago called the Sustainable Growth Rate (SRG) formula. Which is what the providers are paid by. This will cut the doctors allowed payments by 21%. If Congress does not lower this rate or delete it completely or leave it the same doctors will stop seeing Medicare and Tricare patients. This could potentially cause severe problems of accessiblity by Medicare recipients and military families to their doctors. Something must be done to stop this.
But they would be funded with loans, and grants just to meet requirements. after the loans are payed back, they are entirely private companies. The way I understand it is the government will help them get started but not completely sustain them…there’s nothing wrong with helping them get started the best thing to do is increase competition in the industry! Free market principles lets go…