Health care cooperatives jumped into the public spotlight this weekend when the Obama administration signaled it might accept them instead of a government-run health insurance program to compete with private insurers.
Health care co-ops arent a new idea, but theyre still extremely rare. One of the few has been operating in Wisconsin since 2007, called the Farmers Health Cooperative of Wisconsin.
Bill Oemichen, who lives outside of New Glarus in Green County, is president and CEO of the Cooperative Network, a Minnesota and Wisconsin association of more than 600 cooperative businesses owned by more than 6.3 million residents in both states. Because of his involvement with the health care cooperative for farmers and agribusinesses, Oemichens experiences and insights into health care co-ops suddenly came in demand this week with national news outlets.
ABC News had a crew in Monroe on Monday, conducting interviews and shooting footage for a story on co-ops that will be included in either Thursdays or Fridays evening news program. Oemichen was interviewed on CNN on Tuesday.
Here at the Times, wed been discussing doing a story on how the health care co-op for farmers has fared. On Monday, after the weekend news, we committed to doing a story this week. Look for it in an upcoming edition of the Times print and online editions.
If you have any personal experiences with the Farmers Health Cooperative of Wisconsin that you want to share them with our reporter, please contact Brian Gray at bgray@themonroetimes.com.
Health care co-ops arent a new idea, but theyre still extremely rare. One of the few has been operating in Wisconsin since 2007, called the Farmers Health Cooperative of Wisconsin.
Bill Oemichen, who lives outside of New Glarus in Green County, is president and CEO of the Cooperative Network, a Minnesota and Wisconsin association of more than 600 cooperative businesses owned by more than 6.3 million residents in both states. Because of his involvement with the health care cooperative for farmers and agribusinesses, Oemichens experiences and insights into health care co-ops suddenly came in demand this week with national news outlets.
ABC News had a crew in Monroe on Monday, conducting interviews and shooting footage for a story on co-ops that will be included in either Thursdays or Fridays evening news program. Oemichen was interviewed on CNN on Tuesday.
Here at the Times, wed been discussing doing a story on how the health care co-op for farmers has fared. On Monday, after the weekend news, we committed to doing a story this week. Look for it in an upcoming edition of the Times print and online editions.
If you have any personal experiences with the Farmers Health Cooperative of Wisconsin that you want to share them with our reporter, please contact Brian Gray at bgray@themonroetimes.com.
