Which is a key characteristic of a Health Insurance Cooperative (HIC) compared to other health and accident plans?

• A. Private commercial insurers will not accept nonprofit groups
• B. HIC provides medical and disability insurance
• C. HIC combines health care delivery and financing
• D. HIC offers group insurance

Answer: (C)

The key idea is the integration of financing with care delivery. A Health Insurance Cooperative stands out because it not only handles the financial side—collecting premiums, pooling risk, and paying for services—but also controls or closely coordinates how care is delivered, often operating clinics or a linked provider network. This alignment of payment and care delivery aims to reduce waste, manage costs, and improve outcomes by keeping incentives in sync. Other choices describe common features of many plans—such as offering medical and disability coverage, providing group insurance, or being nonprofit/private—but they don’t capture the distinctive integration of who pays for care and who delivers it.