In the spring of 1995, Washington State GOP legislators rolled back the law expanding health coverage in the state while pledging to keep health insurance affordable, but that’s not the way it worked out. The repeal destroyed the Washington insurance market, caused premium costs to skyrocket, and drove health insurers away. It took almost 5 years to repair the damage.

The LA Times published our state’s story to offer a cautionary tale to the Republicans in the Senate who are racing to repeal and replace the ACA. The CBO score concluded that the House AHCA bill would destabilize insurance markets in a sixth of the country and double the number of people without health insurance, despite GOP assurances that their legislation will be different.