Leading Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee have expressed cautious optimism that they’ll be able to attract bipartisan support for their reform effort by substituting “nonprofit health cooperatives” for the highly controversial public option. The federal government would provide states with the seed money — some $6 billion — to set up state-based or regional co-ops.
 

But don’t be fooled — a nonprofit health cooperative is little more than the public plan by another name. Both would be government-funded. Both could offer policies in multiple states, outside the purview of state insurance regulators. And both would sound the death knell of private insurance by tilting the playing field irrevocably in the government’s favor.
 

After all, not only would private insurers remain governed by unique and often burdensome regulations in each of the states. They’d also have to compete against government-funded co-ops that would have the implicit financial backing of the federal government — and thus could charge artificially low rates without risk of insolvency.
 

If they have any hope of preserving individual choice in health care, lawmakers should refuse to cooperate with these cooperatives.