TUCSON, Ariz. - Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Volgy here isrevealing more about his plans to launch a "health-care creditunion" that would pool employees from the public, private andnonprofit sectors into a health care purchasing group with the aimof lowering health insurance costs. Credit Union Times first askedVolgy about his plans in September but he offered few details,saying he would share more if he is elected mayor of Tucson. Atpress time, with 100% of precincts reporting, Republican opponentBob Walkup had a slight lead with 49.55% of the vote to Volgy's47.6%. A Tucson elections office spokesman said because anadditional 4,000 ballots needed to be counted, final results wouldnot be available until Nov. 6 or 7. Volgy, a political scienceprofessor at the University of Arizona, plans to appoint a taskforce in January to come up with a preliminary plan for thetentatively-named Tucson Medical Credit Union by July. His planincludes working with employers who could insure themselves withthe help of a contracted insurance administrator. Health insurancepayments from HMOs would shift to the credit union for use bypublic institutions and private businesses. A board of directorswould set the rules for managed care and the cost of insurance."Unlike for-profit, multinational corporate HMOs, we will save anenormous amount of money on insurance because there will be nostocks and dividends to stockholders, because the credit union isowned by the members," Volgy said. The mayoral candidate also saidunlike HMOs, "there will be no large sums going to administrativepaperwork because the credit union won't have to work with multipleHMOs that require all the paperwork. "There will be no CEOs andupper management earning tens of millions of dollars in annualsalaries," Volgy assured. Volgy said should the credit union getoff the ground, it would result in "at least a 25% decrease in thecost of health care" for its potential membership and offer theavailability of health care insurance for small businesses andindividuals who cannot afford to insure "but could if the cost ofinsurance would decline." Membership may include Tucson's 13,000city and county employees and their families, another 18,000 fromthe city's four largest school districts and 12,000 from theUniversity of Arizona, Volgy said. Volgy previously served asTucson's mayor in 1988 and as a city council member from 1978 to1988. [email protected]