CO-OP Health Plans: Can They Help Fix Rural America's Health Insurance Markets
In this webinar, Dr. Andrew Coburn, Research Professor at the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service, discusses the Consumer-Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program authorized under the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Coburn outlines the CO-OP program legislation; identifies the challenges to obtaining private health insurance in rural areas; and assesses the opportunities and challenges of using the CO-OP program to address the limitations of the rural private health insurance market.
Dr. Coburn is joined by Bill Oemichen, President & CEO of the Cooperative Network, which serves cooperatives in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Mr. Oemichen served on the committee that wrote the recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding CO-OP Plan development.
SHARE co-hosted this webinar with the Rural Assistance Center (RAC). RAC is a rural health and human services information portal funded through HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy and located at the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health.