Group thinking

Could consumer-run healthcare provide an alternative to government-run options? | Mark Bergin

Joshua Trujillo/Seattle Post-Intelligencer/AP

SEATTLE—The parking lot outside the Group Health Medical Center in north Seattle is packed as patients flock to the facility for their Monday morning appointments. With just four Group Health clinics throughout the city, members have few options for primary care. But with premiums often undercutting the competition, more than 500,000 Washington State residents have sacrificed choice for price.

Many federal lawmakers believe Americans across the country might opt for a similar sacrifice, if given the chance. Group Health is one of the nation's few remaining healthcare cooperatives, a model on the decline since its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. Cooperatives differ from typical insurance companies in that they are owned and operated by members with a bottom line rooted in consumer satisfaction, not profitability. Might the cooperative be poised for a comeback?

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August 01, 2009, Vol. 24, No. 15

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