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State Health Care Co-Op Eyed As Model For National Plan

MADISON, Wis. -- As the president pushes for health care reform, at least one Republican lawmaker thinks a final deal could include what's called co-op care, and there's a similar state program in Wisconsin that some think could work as a model for the federal government.

The idea behind co-op care is the more people in a group together buying health care, the cheaper and better it gets. It's an idea being used in Wisconsin, and it might be incorporated into a national plan.

A lot has changed on Yogi Brown's farm over the last few years. Farmers have gone from 100 to 500 milking cows to care for, and there's more health care for the owners.

"Before the cooperative health care came out, we were in quite a pickle," said Brown. "We had some pre-existing conditions and both my husband and myself, being self-employed, we were pretty limited where we could go, and of course we could get health care but we could not afford it.

Brown's family joined the Farmer's     Health Cooperative of Wisconsin,   which  is a group of 2,600 farmers  have  come together to purchase health   care as a group to get more services and  keep costs down.

"What we've done in Wisconsin can   serve as a model for federal health   care reform, or at least certain aspects   of it," said Matt Kreumenauer, with the   Wisconsin Cooperative Network. "We've had success in aligning these nonprofit cooperatives to deliver services to their members that they may not be able to access otherwise.

The idea is being kicked around in the Senate Finance Committee, and state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, who championed co-op care in the state, has been consulted on a White House task force about the idea.

At the federal level, it surprises me and doesn't surprise me that they're talking about it," said Erpenbach. "It surprises me because it started here, and it doesn't surprise me in the fact that if you're looking to get various groups of people together in coops, whether they're doctors or farmers or whatever the case may be, it's probably the easiest way to do it.

Erpenbach said he would be very happy with the program if it ended up with this model. Brown said it has given her family plenty of peace of mind.

When the Farmer's Health Cooperative came through, it gave us wonderful alternatives, (like) some preventative care, which I think is very important, especially with a family of four children. And it was reasonably priced. It doesn't have everything, but it gave us an option that we did not have," said Brown.