You remember a while back when Confucius* said that the concept of health-insurance co-ops is not inherently problematic, but could easily be made so. “The devil,” quoth the Volgi, “is in the details.”

And so he is. The devil, d/b/a Chuck Schumer.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) has listed three conditions it needs to meet.

Mr. Schumer’s conditions are a national structure, federal financing, and a ban on federal appointees who have ties to the insurance industry. This “co-op” would be federally controlled, federally funded, and federally staffed. Expressing his opposition to smaller organizations and his demand for a national “co-op,” Mr. Schumer says, “It has to have clout; it has to be large.” He adds, “There would at least be one national model that could go all over the country,” which would require “a large infusion of federal dollars.”

So it’s the “public option” with a homey ol’ “co-op” sign out front. Caveat morbidus.

* For those who came in late: Confucius is the Gormogons’ Œcumenical Volgi.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.