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Health insurance companies aren't all that popular these days. Even with all the bickering and sniping between Democrats and Republicans regarding health care, no one will disagree with the notion that today's medical coverage situation is a bad one.

And almost all agree it's the fault of the health insurance companies.

Which is why, according to the Wall Street Journal, many of them are sending brave employees to the now infamous Town Hall Meetings to speak out about what health insurance companies are offering the Senate.

This includes lower profit margins for insurers, and a promise to accept all who apply for insurance, regardless of any pre-existing conditions.

Still, it's remarkable how unclear many of these companies can be.

What would be the cost of these plans? And, what would be covered? What wouldn't? How about premiums, deductibles, out of pocket expenses?

The truth is that most Americans are so fed up with health insurance companies that they don't care what the industry has to offer.

Which is why insurers are more than a little concerned these days, inside those Town Hall Meetings and out.

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Facing opposition to the government-run health insurance plan originally proposed in President Obama's health care legislation, health co-ops have been suggested as a means of providing affordable group health insurance to many Americans.

So what is a co-op? How does it work?

A health cooperative is a form of group health insurance, in which members get together to purchase their coverage, select doctors and hospitals, or even own part of the business itself. Co-ops are supposed to be non-profit and geared towards consumer needs, which would theoretically make them less susceptable to the kinds of pro-business, anti-consumer behaviors current health insurance companies are famous for.

But not everyone thinks that health cooperatives are the answer to the health care dilemma.

According to the Washington Post, "Cooperatives would face potentially greater difficulty getting off the ground and obtaining discounted rates from doctors and hospitals." And if not enough people enroll in a health co-op group health insurance plan, they wouldn't have the power to negotiate favorable rates with health-care providers.

Many opponents fear that the result would be federal funding, leading the argument back towards the dreaded government-run and funded health care issue.

But if government regulation could make health co-ops a viable solution, they could provide the competition needed to keep health insurance rates down.

For those consumers looking to compare health insurance plans, they would then have a new option that wouldn't be based on pre-existing conditions or individual rates.

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In response to the surprisingly aggressive attacks on his individual health insurance plan, President Obama's health care has hit the Internet with the launching of a health insurance website designed to address the fears of the nation.

Concerns (and even myths) addressed include the notion that Medicare will be reduced, that those who enjoy their insurance will lose it, and that a government run individual health insurance plan would mean poor quality care.

House Democrats seemed unprepared for Republican attacks, and have scrambled to recover. Obama himself, though unfailing optimistic, has ordered his message to come across more clearly, and sought to address concerns at recent Town Hall Meetings.

He insists that a government run option will cover those who don't have coverage now, and allow for greater competition when Americans are able to compare health insurance plans and choose a more affordable health insurance option.

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It appears that individual health insurance reform will be waiting until September 15th, instead of passing through the Senate in August, as had originally been planned.

Which is, according to U.S.News and World Report, a good thing. After all, major individual health insurance reform on a nation-wide scale deserves more than 2 days of reading. And, with the latest bill totaling more than 1,000 pages long, most senators wouldn't be able to read it by the previous deadline anyway.

Perhaps they're all remembering what happened with the Patriot Act, another lengthy bill passed in record time, that later came back to haunt those who agreed to it without knowing what they were really agreeing to.

Regardless, house Democrats are already suggesting that if Republicans can't finish the bill by the new deadline, they'll find a way to pass it without bipartisan support.

But with so many differing opinions on both sides of the aisle, what type of individual health insurance plan we really end up with remains to be seen. Still, it's good to see some kind of change on the horizon, and hopefully there will be some kind of financial and medical relief coming for those millions of uninsured Americans now waiting to see what happens on September 15th.