Services = Lower Health Care Costs

HELENA, Mont., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Alliance of State Health Cooperatives (NASHCO) today announced it will launch a Consumer Oriented and Operated healthcare cooperative initiative and sponsor a conference in Washington, D.C. with leaders from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  

The HHS officials participating in the July conference oversee the development of state health cooperatives, as envisioned in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

NASHCO chair John Morrison said there is interest throughout the United States in starting Consumer Oriented and Operated health plans (CO-OPs), a key part of health care reform with funding support through the Affordable Care Act. Morrison is a former Montana Insurance Commissioner and served as the chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Health Insurance and Managed Care Committee.

"Consumer Oriented and Operated health plans, as encouraged in the landmark Affordable Care Act, offer the greatest hope for reducing healthcare costs," Morrison said. "Improving the delivery and quality of health care is a critical component of the CO-OP health plans. While everything else in the ACA affects existing institutions—CO-OPs represent the creation of an entirely new, innovative and non-governmental way to manage costs."

The Affordable Care Act has appropriated $3.6 billion for start-up expenses and capitalization loans for CO-OPs. The idea was advanced by North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad as an alternative to the "public option" proposal that failed to gain majority support in the last Congress.

Morrison said that more than twenty states have cooperatives that are newly formed or are in the process of being formed. "All of these state efforts involve thousands of hours of volunteer work by physicians, business and labor leaders and consumers. There is a lot of progress that has been made in preparation for submitting applications to HHS for funding and development," Morrison said.

Among the speakers and panelists at the July l7 & l8, 2011 conference will be Steve Larsen, Director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), who will discuss the government's plans to support development and funding of start-up CO-OPs; Barbara Smith, Deputy Director, CCIIO; Terry Gardiner, Vice President, Policy and Strategy, Small Business Majority, and Andrew Webber, President & CEO, National Business Coalition on Health. The conference will open with remarks by Morrison and John Dunn, Vice President, National Cooperative Business Association.

An Advisory Committee selected by the Comptroller General, has made recommendations to HHS for rulemaking to determine which CO-OPs are eligible for funds that are expected to be available later this year. Allen Feezor, Senior Policy Advisor at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, who chaired the CO-OP Advisory Committee, will also speak at the conference.

Please click here to view full conference agenda: Nashco.coop/conference.html

Contact: John Morrison, 406-442-3261
www.nashco.coop

SOURCE National Alliance of State Health Cooperatives