ObamaCare Insurance Cooperative is a Trojan Horse

The FRAUD obama belongs in jail.


ObamaCare Insurance Cooperative is a Trojan Horse

Because of vocal public opposition, the public option is not likely to pass in the Senate so Democrats are now calling for an insurance cooperative. They would like to see a group of at least 500,000 people covered under a national plan.

An Insurance Cooperative is the same Trojan Horse of a different color for a Federal takeover of healthcare. Creating a single monolithic insurance policy is the exact opposite of what should be done. What should be done instead is a multitude of different policies in every State from which consumers in any State can choose. The proposed insurance cooperative will take the economy further away from a free-market system that functions with minimal government regulation.

An insurance cooperative will reduce competition among insurers and Federal regulators will dictate the terms of the policy and rates? The idea is not necessarily new. Insurance coops were around back in the early 1920’s. My concern is that such a large entity might be treated as is the Federal Reserve, a private corporation, or Fannie or Freddie also private corporations. No one can deny that the Federal Government actually controls these corporations. If the Federal Government regulates the insurance cooperative like they did Fannie and Freddie, we can expect the same result - redistribution of wealth, and a poor delivery system.

Co-ops are a Trojan Horse

According to today’s Washington Post, the Senate Finance Committee will soon produce a health care plan that rejects “a government-run health insurance plan in favor of a network of member-owned cooperatives.” More commonly referred to as “co-ops”, these organizations actually already have a long and proud tradition in many sectors of the U.S. economy, including health care. But Americans must be wary that our nation’s co-op tradition does not become a vehicle for government run health care.

To some the word “co-operative” may have a slight Bolshevik whiff to it, but actually a private co-op is nothing more than private individuals exercising their right to voluntarily self-associate. From farm bureaus to barn-raisers, private co-ops are part of American society. In the realm of health care, a group that organizes coverage provided by private insurers could be structured as a co-op. Or the health insurer itself could be a co-operative owned by its member policyholders. Those kind of insurance companies are called mutual insurers.

Understood in this manner, co-ops have far more to do with Edmund Burke and little platoons than with Leon Trotsky and manning the barricades. And they can be part of the health care solution.
But, don’t be fooled, Burkean little platoons are not what the Obama Administration and its allies in Congress have in mind In liberal Washington today, leaders such as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), are talking up co-ops that would be:

• Run by the government, preferably the federal government
• Funded or subsidized by the government, or
• Includes plans chosen by the government.
A co-op with any of these three features is obviously unacceptable. A real co-op is:
• Run by its members
• Funded by its members and other private sources
• Controlled by its members

Why is the left fastening to co-ops now? Because their public plan idea—a way for the government to take over health care—has run into a buzz saw of opposition among the American people. Liberals have concluded, it seems, that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. So if the public plan was a Trojan horse for a single payer (which means a complete government take over of your health care decisions), a co-op (the way liberals mean it) is a Trojan horse for a public plan.

Congress should, of course, be empowering true local, private co-ops to be a real health choice for Americans. To do that Congress needs to amend the tax laws to do two things: Allow mutual insurance companies to be the foundation of non-profit insurance companies; and give people the same tax breaks for getting insurance from a co-op as from their employer.

None of this is, however, what some leading members of Congress have in mind when the subject of co-ops comes up.

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