BROOKFIELD, WIS. (July 14, 2016) – The Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative (CGHC) board of directors voted to re-elect small business owner Jim Wesp to a second term as Chairman of the Board at its June meeting. Community Organizer Keisha Krumm was also re-elected as the Board’s Vice-Chair, and new Board member Mary Rehberg was elected as the Board’s Secretary/Treasurer.
CGHC is a new kind of health insurer founded in 2011 to help individuals and small businesses gain access to quality healthcare coverage that is responsive to the needs of consumers. Chairman Wesp first became involved with the cooperative in 2011 when the cooperative was in its infancy when he joined other business owners, community leaders and health insurance experts to create CGHC. “We knew there had to be a better way to provide health insurance to people,” Wesp said. “CGHC is not about profit, it’s about supporting our members in their health care decision-making and advocating for needed change in the health care system so we can start to fix what’s broken.”
Under the CGHC cooperative business model, individuals buying the health insurance govern the cooperative by running for and voting to elect its Board of Directors. The first election took place at the end of 2014, after the cooperative signed up thousands for its insurance.
CGHC achieved significant accomplishments under this member governance model. The cooperative was awarded accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality; greatly enhanced customer service; added Bellin Health to its network of providers; provided access to Teladoc; and reached its enrollment targets for both 2015 and 2016.
“I am honored to serve on the Common Ground Healthcare board, as a director and as its chairman,” said Wesp. “I’m looking forward to working with the other directors this year to continue to follow our mission of putting members first in every decision we make in order to provide outstanding service and care at an affordable price.”
About CGHC
CGHC provides health insurance to small businesses, nonprofits, individuals and families. As a nonprofit, member-governed cooperative, CGHC is committed to changing the health insurance experience through open dialogue, powerful advocacy and the delivery of trusted and understandable information to members and stakeholders.
CGHC’s headquarters are based in Brookfield, Wisconsin and its products are available in 19 Wisconsin counties including Brown, Calumet, Door, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Milwaukee, Oconto, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Racine, Shawano, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and Winnebago counties. For more information, visit CommonGroundHealthcare.org.