National Cooperative Business Association

Statement from NCBA on the Passage of Health Care Reform

Washington, D.C. - Last week the President signed into law historic legislation designed to increase access to health care for millions of American consumers.

During the past year of debate, health care cooperatives were frequently discussed as a potential alternative to provide health insurance through the health insurance exchanges established in the bill. Cooperatives are member owned and governed businesses that address the economic and social needs of their members.

NCBA President and CEO Re-Elected to Board for the International Cooperative Alliance

Washington, D.C. - Cooperatives in the United States will continue to have a voice in the international cooperative community for another four years. That's because Paul Hazen, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Cooperative Business Association, was re-elected on November 20 for a second term to the International Co-operative Alliance's board of directors. Hazen is the ICA board's only current U.S. representative.

Hazen learned that he had won the board seat while at the ICA General Assembly, a biennial meeting of ICA members which this year was in Geneva, Switzerland. Hazen competed against 22 other candidates for 15 board seats, and came in third place.

NCBA Signs Agreement with BizUnite and New Benefits to Generate Cost Savings for the Nation's Cooperatives

The National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) is pleased to announce two new member benefits that will help cooperatives reduce their business costs while also receiving pharmacy discounts to pass along to their members.

Partnering with BizUnite, a division of the cooperatively-owned CCA Global Partners, NCBA now offers its members participation in the Business Services Marketplace, where cooperatives can experience savings on office products, package delivery services, payroll processing, business consulting, marketing and many other services.

Paul Hazen's Statement on the Senate Finance Committee's CO-OP Proposal

We're very pleased that the cooperative business model is being considered as part of healthcare reform. The business model has contributed to social and economic progress for millions of Americans.

But we are concerned about who would own and control these cooperatives. In its current "CO-OP" proposal, the Senate Finance Committee does not answer these concerns.

Cooperatives Can Address Health Care Needs if Properly Defined and Adequate Consumer Protections are Established

The health care proposal released yesterday by the Senate Finance Committee includes an option to offer health insurance through cooperatives but leaves many questions about their structure and scope undefined. The National Cooperative Business Association, the only national membership association for co-ops across all industries, supports the use of co-ops to address the U.S.'s health care needs. NCBA seeks to ensure that any proposal strongly complies with long-established cooperative principles and protects consumers.

Paramount to the definition of a cooperative is membership control. Co-ops are both owned and governed by their members. Because the owners and the users of the business' ordinary citizens' are the same, the co-op model is inherently in service of members. Its primary mission is to provide quality goods and services rather than to maximize profits for shareholders; savings at co-ops are generally returned to members.