By Ann Vining, NoHLA Staff Attorney Policymakers in Washington State have worked for several years to develop an affordable way for state residents to pay for coverage of long-term services and supports (LTSS) – coverage that offers an alternative to Medicaid. The majority of people over sixty-five years of age will need LTSS within their...
Category: News
Removing barriers to the Healthcare for Workers with Disabilities program
By Ann Vining, NoHLA Staff Attorney In 2002, Washington State began offering a Medicaid program designed for people with disabilities who engage in employment, shortly after Congress passed legislation to allow this. Washington’s “Healthcare for Workers with Disabilities (HWD)” program allows workers with disabilities to work without losing services that only Medicaid provides, including residential...
Is this the year Washington will protect consumers from surprise medical bills?
By Samantha Barry, NoHLA Intern This session, legislation to protect consumers from surprise bills from health care providers is back for the 4th year in a row! You might receive an unexpected surprise bill (also called an out-of-network bill or balance bill), after getting treatment that, unbeknownst to you, was from a provider not in...
The need for parity in health coverage for young adults left out: Bills to expand children’s coverage to age 26
By Janet Varon, NoHLA Executive Director For many years, Washington has demonstrated its commitment to cover residents on equal terms whether they are citizens or immigrants. In 2008, the state passed landmark legislation to ensure that all children living in Washington have health coverage through age 18. Under the state-funded Children’s Health Program – known...
Impact of the government shutdown on Washington residents
The country’s longest government shutdown is disrupting the lives of over 800,000 furloughed employees and having far-reaching consequences for public programs. From the office of Senator Maria Cantwell: Most agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have full appropriations and have not been forced to furlough employees. Nonetheless, we have seen...
Watch health care issues during 2019 Washington State legislative session
The Washington Legislature has begun its 2019 session, which lasts until April 28. Many health care-related bills have been introduced, and there are more to come. This session, there will be a strong focus on behavioral health – relating to mental health and chemical dependency treatment reform, to address the deficiencies in our state’s systems....
American Public Health Association agrees: Law enforcement violence is a public health issue
By Guest Columnists Omid Bagheri, MPH and Julianna Alson, MPH 1.8 Billion. Imagine how that amount of money could be invested instead into healthcare, housing, education and other social determinants of health. Instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that we’re spending that much on fatal and non-fatal injuries by law enforcement,...