President Obama says a public health-insurance option to compete with private insurers would help keep private insurers honest. Opponents say a public plan would eventually drive private insurers out of business. Could a member-run health-care cooperative bridge the divide? Democrat Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota is proposing a plan where a co-op — which would be owned and organized by its members — would negotiate rates with providers and would meet the same licensing and regulatory requirements as private insurers, reports the Washington Post . “I tried to come up with something that is not government-controlled, is a competitive delivery model, but nonprofit,” Conrad said. “It would be on a level playing field with everybody else with, with a different ownership structure.” Some senators on both sides of the aisle, such as Charles Grassley and Chris Dodd, appear to like the notion, and Obama also didn’t voice objections this week when the idea was discussed, according

to the Post and WSJ . The focus on the public vs. private plan debate is clouding another important aspect of health reform: the “exchange” system in which individuals and small businesses could comparison shop for insurance plans with different coverage options, says the WSJ . Insurers are worried about the limitations that might be put on what they can sell outside such an exchange, which they say would limit consumers’ choice of health plans. And, if the government gives subsidies to purchase plans only in the exchange, it could affect individuals’ willingness to stay with their company health plans. “If people still want to continue to use other channels, either directly from an insurer or through their broker, they should be able to do that, too,” Bradley Fluegel, chief strategy and external affairs officer for WellPoint, told the WSJ.

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Debate on Public-Health Option Turns to Talk of Co-Op