Indiana CO-OP May Ask State Health Systems for Funding

Since Congress eliminated funding for programs like non-profit health insurance CO-OP Remedy Indiana in a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, the organization is hoping Indiana's health systems will partner and fund the project instead of the federal government, according to a report by the Indianapolis Business Journal.

CO-OPs, or Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans, are intended to compete with private insurance companies by rerouting all profits back to members through additional benefits or premium reductions. They are a key feature of the 2010 health law, but only 24 CO-OPs received federal startup funding before Congress eliminated remaining funds.

Remedy Indiana had already recruited all of the state's major hospital systems to become part of its network, and it is now asking hospitals to fund the $62 million in loans it expected from the federal government.

"Right now, [hospitals] have health plans battering them over the head," Remedy Indiana CEO Ned Lamkin, MD, told the Indianapolis Business Journal. "If they can manage patients less expensively in a given year, the plan makes the profit, not the insurer."

More Articles on Health Insurance CO-OPs:

Health Law's CO-OPs Hit Wall in Fiscal Cliff Deal
Florida Hospital to Launch Health Plan in 2014
Congress Passes Fiscal Cliff, SGR Deal at Hospitals' Expense

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