Health insurance is often too expensive for people without insurance through their employer or those who are too young for Medicare, according to the report. These patients often ignore medical problems until they become emergencies, then seek care at an emergency room rather than a physician office.
The co-op would be started under a provision of the federal healthcare reform law. The co-op provision was written into the law as an alternative to a government-run insurance company that was originally proposed but did not survive until the final version.
The law states that co-ops must use profits to lower premiums, improve benefits or improve the quality of members’ healthcare. The co-ops should also improve coordinator of consumers’ medical care. Insurance is expected to be available through c-ops as soon as Jan. 2014.
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