Cooperative info meetings planned
The Healthy Communities Cooperative has set a series of informational meetings to unveil the details of the innovative health and wellness plans the co-op developed with its partner, WPS Health Insurance.
Participating chambers of commerce from Dane, Dodge, Green, Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties will host the meetings, which will be held at various times at each location. Similar presentations will be given at each site by representatives from the HCC Board of Directors and a representative from WPS. Chamber members and others interested in learning more about the insurance are invited to attend a meeting at a location of their choice.
n Aug. 27, The Monroe Chamber of Commerce will host two meetings, 8-9 a.m. and 1-2 p.m., at the Monroe Clinic Building (lower level), Founders Hall Conference Room, 515 22nd Ave., Monroe. RSVP (608) 325-7648
n Aug. 17, Brodhead Chamber of Commerce will host at 6:30 p.m. at the Brodhead Memorial Library meeting room, 1207 25th St., Brodhead. RSVP (608) 897-8411.
MONROE - Local Chamber of Commerce member business owners could soon have another option for providing health insurance benefits for their employees.
Now that the Healthy Communities Cooperative, comprised of 10 chambers of commerce from six southern Wisconsin counties, has chosen WPS as its insurance provider after a lengthy search, member businesses will soon have the choice to join a pool of businesses to help negotiate lower insurance costs.
The Communities Cooperative, which includes Monroe and Brodhead chambers of commerce, is an independent, non-profit corporation run by a board of directors elected from the participating communities. The group formed to provide its members with an alternative to their existing health insurance plans.
With increasing rates, health insurance has been a major concern for local businesses in southern Wisconsin, said Pam Christopher, executive director for Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
"Our members are very interested," she said. "Since coming to Monroe in October - and they had been working on this a long time before I came - I have had members telling me to keep them apprised."
Small business insurance cooperatives, like HCC, became possible when Wisconsin passed a landmark law, Wisconsin Act 231 in 2005, that became effective March 29, 2006. The act allows cooperatives to bargain for adequate, cost-effective health insurance for agricultural producers and small businesses.
According to Christopher, one of the changes provided in the state law allows businesses with one employee, including the self-employed owner, to access health care insurance at a lower rate through a cooperative.
"A lot of entrepreneurs are start-ups businesses and well into business for years as a the only employee," she said.
Such cooperatives are forming, even as Congress discuss a universal health care system.
Whether the federal plan will better benefit participants of the HCC plan, "depends on when the federal program rolls out," Christopher said. "Businesses can't wait."
Healthy Communities Board of Directors member Jim Nelson, Fort Atkinson, said Tuesday the cooperative has been working for more than a year to figure out the opportunities, and put together a partnership with an insurance company.
"Things started to come together in the last nine months," Nelson said.
Because HCC is a chamber-based organization, participants in its insurance program must be a member of a chambers of commerce that endorses HCC. Participating chambers of commerce include, Beloit, Brodhead, Delavan, East Troy, Evansville, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Milton, Monroe and Whitewater. Any business, small or large, is eligible to participate, even sole proprietors, including agricultural producers.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, insurers of small health plans have higher administrative expenses than those insuring larger group plans, and employees at small companies are less likely to have coverage than employees at larger companies.
"We need to have in excess of 1000 participants to make the pool work best, for a rate that would make sense and be a big enough risk pool - 1,000 seemed to be the magical number," Nelson said.
Monroe's Chamber of Commerce has over 200 people, while Brodhead's Chamber has 74 members, according to its chamber's spokeswoman Nancy Southerland.
The health and wellness plans provided by WPS will give even small businesses preferred insurance rates and wellness programs not available in the traditional market, according to HCC Board president Jacki Seversen of Schwartz & Shea Insurance, Inc. in Janesville.
The wellness program WPS provides, could help address one of the primary principles of the cooperative, to help employees identify risk factors and health issues, and to educate and help motivate individuals to make healthier choices.
The wellness component was one of the critical items of the WPS program, one that many of Monroe's chamber members were interested in having.
"If they can keep their employees healthier, it keep the rates down," Christopher said.
Starting in August, chambers of commerce and insurance agents in individual communities will be educated on the new health insurance and application process, and going over the different plan options available to members.
Nelson said the cooperative will start taking applications in October, and end acceptance in December, once the rates have been secured and it is clear what the price of benefits are.
Regional health fairs will conduct health risk assessments and provide resources for engaging employees in wellness. The Healthy Communities Cooperative targeted January 1, 2010, as the coverage effective date.
Now that the Healthy Communities Cooperative, comprised of 10 chambers of commerce from six southern Wisconsin counties, has chosen WPS as its insurance provider after a lengthy search, member businesses will soon have the choice to join a pool of businesses to help negotiate lower insurance costs.
The Communities Cooperative, which includes Monroe and Brodhead chambers of commerce, is an independent, non-profit corporation run by a board of directors elected from the participating communities. The group formed to provide its members with an alternative to their existing health insurance plans.
With increasing rates, health insurance has been a major concern for local businesses in southern Wisconsin, said Pam Christopher, executive director for Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
"Our members are very interested," she said. "Since coming to Monroe in October - and they had been working on this a long time before I came - I have had members telling me to keep them apprised."
Small business insurance cooperatives, like HCC, became possible when Wisconsin passed a landmark law, Wisconsin Act 231 in 2005, that became effective March 29, 2006. The act allows cooperatives to bargain for adequate, cost-effective health insurance for agricultural producers and small businesses.
According to Christopher, one of the changes provided in the state law allows businesses with one employee, including the self-employed owner, to access health care insurance at a lower rate through a cooperative.
"A lot of entrepreneurs are start-ups businesses and well into business for years as a the only employee," she said.
Such cooperatives are forming, even as Congress discuss a universal health care system.
Whether the federal plan will better benefit participants of the HCC plan, "depends on when the federal program rolls out," Christopher said. "Businesses can't wait."
Healthy Communities Board of Directors member Jim Nelson, Fort Atkinson, said Tuesday the cooperative has been working for more than a year to figure out the opportunities, and put together a partnership with an insurance company.
"Things started to come together in the last nine months," Nelson said.
Because HCC is a chamber-based organization, participants in its insurance program must be a member of a chambers of commerce that endorses HCC. Participating chambers of commerce include, Beloit, Brodhead, Delavan, East Troy, Evansville, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Milton, Monroe and Whitewater. Any business, small or large, is eligible to participate, even sole proprietors, including agricultural producers.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, insurers of small health plans have higher administrative expenses than those insuring larger group plans, and employees at small companies are less likely to have coverage than employees at larger companies.
"We need to have in excess of 1000 participants to make the pool work best, for a rate that would make sense and be a big enough risk pool - 1,000 seemed to be the magical number," Nelson said.
Monroe's Chamber of Commerce has over 200 people, while Brodhead's Chamber has 74 members, according to its chamber's spokeswoman Nancy Southerland.
The health and wellness plans provided by WPS will give even small businesses preferred insurance rates and wellness programs not available in the traditional market, according to HCC Board president Jacki Seversen of Schwartz & Shea Insurance, Inc. in Janesville.
The wellness program WPS provides, could help address one of the primary principles of the cooperative, to help employees identify risk factors and health issues, and to educate and help motivate individuals to make healthier choices.
The wellness component was one of the critical items of the WPS program, one that many of Monroe's chamber members were interested in having.
"If they can keep their employees healthier, it keep the rates down," Christopher said.
Starting in August, chambers of commerce and insurance agents in individual communities will be educated on the new health insurance and application process, and going over the different plan options available to members.
Nelson said the cooperative will start taking applications in October, and end acceptance in December, once the rates have been secured and it is clear what the price of benefits are.
Regional health fairs will conduct health risk assessments and provide resources for engaging employees in wellness. The Healthy Communities Cooperative targeted January 1, 2010, as the coverage effective date.