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The state legislative session begins
Last week, the Washington Legislature began its 2020 session with a new Speaker of the House: Representative Laurie Jinkins, the first woman and first openly gay Speaker! This is the second year of our biennial legislature, so we have a shorter session lasting only 60 days, ending March 12. Bills need to move quickly to […]
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New health benefits and billing protections now available to Washington residents
On January 1, 2020, expansions in health care coverage and protections from “surprise” medical bills took effect – the fruits of the 2019 Washington legislature: Surprise billing protections: Many patients will now be protected from being billed for out-of-network care during an emergency hospitalization or when receiving care at a facility within their insurance plan’s network. The […]
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Coming in 2021: Standard Health Plans
NoHLA and other stakeholders participated in a work group to recommend the design of standard individual health insurance plans. The goal of the standard plans is to make plan comparisons more understandable and to offer more value for consumers. In the interest of consumers, we recommended that certain services such as primary care and generic […]
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News and commentary from our community partners and Washington State Governor Inslee:
Several community partners and Governor Inslee published insightful pieces about health care access. We recommend reading these analyses: U.S. v. Texas: Overturning ACA would adversely affect WA residents. Read more about the Governor’s position on U.S. v. Texas. Trump passed an executive order that aims to privatize Medicare. Read more in an article by The […]
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Implications of recent elections for Medicaid
This month, candidates who support health care access and oppose work requirements in Medicaid programs were victorious in three southern states. In Kentucky, voters elected Andy Beshear, who ran on a platform of defending health care access and Medicaid coverage. Beshear defeated incumbent Republican Governor Matt Bevin, who had filed a waiver to impose work […]
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Dental Access Survey
Have you or members of your family had trouble finding a dentist to help you stay healthy? The Washington Dental Access Campaign wants to hear about it. In many communities across Washington, dental care is out of reach. Without it, you can lose your teeth, your health—and even your life. The Washington Dental Access Campaign […]
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NY judge blocks Trump’s health care refusal rule
On November 6 a federal district judge in New York struck down a Trump Administration rule that embraced denying access to health care under the guise of promoting health care providers’ rights to follow their “conscience.” A May 2019 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule scheduled to take effect on November 22 […]
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Oregon judge blocks Trump’s health insurance requirement for visa applicants
Last month’s blog post described President Trump’s October 4 proclamation that would require some categories of immigrants seeking to enter the U.S. to have certain kinds of health insurance within 30 days of entry in order to obtain immigrant visas at U.S. consulates abroad. The kinds of insurance that count are so limited that the […]
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Congressional health care advocates keep up momentum for reform
Health care advocates and consumers should take heart that federal bills to improve health care access and affordability are advancing as far as politically possible in this divided Congress, even as the focus on impeachment hearings dims prospects for major legislation this year. The key House committees favorably reported H.R. 3, now called the “Elijah […]
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Immigrants and health care – Courts suspend implementation of Public Charge rule, and other developments
Within the space of one week, the Trump Administration took two new steps to stifle immigrants from getting public health coverage to which they are entitled. But last Friday three federal courts put on hold the Department of Homeland Security’s drastic changes to the”public charge” regulation: On October 11, federal district courts in Spokane, WA, […]
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