Category: News Posts

For the third year in a row, the KIDS COUNT Project finds Washington State in 5th place among states for children’s health care. Kudos to the Health Coalition for Children and Youth for their many years of advocacy and to children’s health care providers across the state. Only 3% of Washington children remain uninsured –...

The latest threat to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a huge reduction in funding for navigators in states using the federal marketplace. These are local people who help individuals and their families enroll in Medicaid and Exchange coverage. We didn’t call it huge for nothing – navigators have been cut 84% since 2016(!).Fortunately, Washington...

Many states are applying for five-year waivers to receive federal funds for inpatient treatment of adults age 21-64 in Institutions of Mental Disease (IMDs) with more than 16 beds. Washington State received federal approval of an amendment to their existing Medicaid waiver last week. The waiver amendment will allow the state to maintain and expand...

First Lady Trudi Inslee penned an op-ed in The Seattle Times about how Washington is strengthening our efforts to expand women’s health care. In a new initiative, the Department of Health is partnering with Upstream USA to provide sustainable tracking and technical assistance to approximately 300 public and private health centers over the next four...

In April, NoHLA released a new report with recommendations for a new approach to provide comprehensive health coverage to uninsured immigrants. County-based health coverage programs, modeled off of programs operating in other states, including California and Maryland, could close the coverage gaps that persist for adult immigrants. The proposal is picking up steam in King...

Advocates are extremely concerned about the potential inaccuracy of the 2020 census, which will have a huge impact on continued federal funding. The Trump Administration ‘s proposal to include a citizenship question would undoubtedly suppress participation in the census from immigrants who are intimidated by the question. Washington State Budget & Policy Center Executive Director...

We previously mentioned the Administration’s proposal to significantly alter the Title X family planning program. The policy change is often considered a “gag rule” because it precludes providers from giving patients referrals for abortion services if they receive family planning funds. The proposed rule would seriously undermine the Title X program by interfering with the...