Co-operatives and Health Care Reform in the USA

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Co-operatives and Health Care Reform in the USA

Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 July 2009 10:04 Written by David Griffiths Wednesday, 29 July 2009 09:47

As in Australia, the USA is debating healthcare reform and President Obama has made this a high priority. The Obama Plan includes a government-run insurance program and it is this that has divided USA lawmakers.

A bipartisan group of senators, Democrat and Republican, are working on an alteranative plan. The alternative plan involves a system of co-operatives - saying that this alternative offers more choice without increasing the role of government in healthcare.

Democrat Kent Conrad is proposing that insurance co-operatives are controlled by consumers rather than the government or profit driven companies. Under his proposal, the USA federal government would provide seed money to help set up co-operatives.

Source:,Levey, Noam N and Hook, Janet "The centrist alternative on healthcare::Cooperatives" in the Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2009.

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