Health Co-ops Touted As Model For Lower Costs, Better Care

One of the lesser-known parts of the new health law is a provision that provides federal loans to help fund health cooperatives. Advocates say these Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans, essentially insurers run by their members, encourage competition especially in the individual and small business health insurance market. Currently there are very few co-ops, but one that is considered a model of success is Group Health. Group Health’s CEO, Scott Armstrong, sat down with KHN’s Bara Vaida. The interview was just before the House of Representatives’ vote to repeal the health law. Here are edited excerpts from the interview, which included questions about accountable care organizations.

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<h1>Health Co-ops Touted As Model For Lower Costs, Better Care</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2011-02-14T00:30:00-05:00">
			February 14, 2011		</time>
		</div>
<p>One of the lesser-known parts of the new health law is a provision that provides federal loans to help fund health cooperatives. Advocates say these Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans, essentially insurers run by their members, encourage competition especially in the individual and small business health insurance market. Currently there are very few co-ops, but one that is considered a model of success is Group Health. Group Health’s CEO, Scott Armstrong, sat down with KHN’s Bara Vaida. The interview was just before the House of Representatives’ vote to repeal the health law.  Here are edited excerpts from the interview, which included questions about <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/stories/2011/january/13/aco-accountable-care-organization-faq.aspx?">accountable care organizations</a>.</p><p>      <strong>Related Story: <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/legacy/01E43B2B-53BF-4E5D-BFE7-F310424CD55E">How Group Health Is Holding Costs Down: A KHN Interview With CEO Scott Armstrong</a></strong> </p><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Health%20Co-ops%20Touted%20As%20Model%20For%20Lower%20Costs%2C%20Better%20Care&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2Fnews%2F021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/021411-health-co-ops-group-health-armstrong/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=10321&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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