Health Co-Ops? First of all let's get the numbers straight shall we?... there are not 47 million uninsured Americans or 47 million Americans denied access to healthcare. These figures are simply untrue. The facts speak for themselves, the 47 million in reality after we remove millions of individuals that don't fit the definition and yet have been counted in this mysterious figure is far closer to 5 - 5.5 million....so keeping that point in mind let's discuss this concept, Healthcare Co-Ops. sorry but this is another name for government run healthcare. The government will have to start or capitalize these co-ops and then if these co-ops cannot financially survive then who holds the tab? The American Taxpayer. Isn't the term Co-Op just another word for what GSE's? Government Sponsored -subsidized- Enterprises? This would be like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? And if there are financial performance driven bonuses paid out, what will drive them? Reduced utilization of healthcare services and reduction in reimbursement to the providers of all healthcare services? ... hospitals, MDs, midlevel providers, local neighborhood clinics and more. Based upon the historical performance at hand with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and even the Federal Medicare Program, do we want to create another organization that will be run by the government that will be as inefficient and costly as these entities have been thus far? And what about the huge bonuses paid out to the executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? We don't need another person in between the healthcare consumer and the healthcare providers i.e. hospitals, MDs, specialists, healthcare centers, clinics and so on.

So what is the answer? Here is a good place to start.... stop the frivolous lawsuits, remove state barriers to purchase insurance, tax deductible premiums for all, insurance should be sold by products not packages, not what someone mandates you have. Don't... like the profits of the insurance carriers? Then allow for the increase in competition, allow for more choices, drive down their profits and increase purchasing power for the consumer. This is the answer.