Health Care Co-Op Gaining Support Among Senate Democrats

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Frodo:
Democrats Open to Idea Of Forming Health Co-op

By PATRICK YOEST and COREY BOLES

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic leaders appeared open Thursday to establishing a non-government cooperative as part of a U.S. health-care overhaul.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Charles Schumer said they were amenable to considering a cooperative -- perhaps in lieu of a government-run insurance plan -- to compete with private insurers as part of the effort to reduce the country's health-care costs and expand coverage to uninsured Americans.

The public competitor should "keep the companies honest … be available right at the beginning to everybody, and have the strength to borrow," Mr. Schumer said. "If it can do those things in a co-op form, I think we're open to it."

President Barack Obama has pushed for the establishment of a government-run health plan in the overhaul, but many Republicans have opposed a public plan, saying it would pose unfair competition to private insurers.

It was unclear whether Republicans would support a health cooperative, which could require a heavy infusion of start-up funding from -- and initial management by -- the federal government. A co-op with close ties to the government might be viewed by Republicans as a predecessor to a government-run plan.

"I've heard more positives than negatives on co-ops from Republicans," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican from Maine. But Ms. Snowe warned that "if it's one and the same, it would be problematic, definitely."

The White House and Democratic leaders hope to pass health-care legislation by autumn. The challenge is how to pay for the overhaul, which is estimated to cost upward of $1 trillion over 10 years.

I spent the winter writing songs about getting better:
I'd only support this if the goal was to eventually transform it into a public plan.

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