Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative board elects officers

BROOKFIELD — The Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative (CGHC) board of directors voted to elect Keisha Krumm as Chairman of the Board at its June meeting. Amy Murphy was elected as the Board’s Vice-Chair, and Mary Rehberg was re-elected as the Board’s Secretary/Treasurer.

CGHC is a member governed, cooperatively owned health insurer that begin providing health coverage to individuals and small businesses in 2014, when the health insurance market was undergoing significant change. Krumm was first elected to serve on the board at the end of that first year, once the cooperative had signed up enough members to hold an election.

In a non-profit cooperative business model, it is the people buying the services that vote to elect the board, and all voting board directors must be purchasing their health insurance through the cooperative. Any profit made is returned to members in improved services or lower rates.

“It is a real honor to be elected by my peers to help lead an organization that is dedicated to fixing the problems in healthcare,” Krumm said. “For nearly four years, I have had the privilege to be a part of the Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative decision-making process that puts members first, in a way that for-profit insurance companies simply cannot do.”

Murphy, who was also elected in 2014, echoed those sentiments. “The past four years have been a time of great uncertainty for the health insurance industry, which has caused other insurers to leave the individual market,” she said. “Our board room discussions center around service to people, especially areas of the state that otherwise would not have an insurance option.”

Krumm is a community organizer working toward social change, while Murphy is a long-time public health advocate and consultant. Rehberg is an independent CPA with significant experience in the financial services and credit union industries.