Last Spring, a steering committee was formed to study the possible creation of a health care insurance cooperative in western, west central, and northwest Wisconsin. The cooperative leverages the purchasing power of a larger group. Ideally, rates paid by businesses would be stabilized. Prospective members of a regional health cooperative include businesses, manufacturers, the self-employed, nonprofit corporations, partnerships, and even units of government. The proposed service territory is a 17-county region of west central and northwest Wisconsin, including Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Price, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer, and Washburn counties (Subject to the approval of the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance).
