The tax bill was moving full-speed ahead in mid-December. That trajectory moved it right to the President’s desk on December 20. Check out this excellent summary of how the final bill might affect you. We tracked two health care provisions in the bill – the individual mandate repeal and the elimination of the high-cost medical deduction. The...
Category: News
Washington Legislature: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
The state’s 60-day legislative session starts on Monday, January 8. This year brings a change as Senate Democrats re-take control after the Majority Coalition Caucus seized it in late 2012. Among the many bills under consideration are ones that: create a state reinsurance program intended to mitigate expected health insurance premium increases due to the...
Temporary Relief for CHIP
Just before the holidays, Congress passed a “stopgap” spending bill, averting a government shutdown and funding the government through January 19. They included a six-month extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and community health centers, backdated to October 1. Unfortunately, $750 million was cut from the Prevention and Public Health Trust Fund to...
What We’re Reading and Listening To
Net Neutrality: Did you stop to think that the repeal of net neutrality rules could impact health disparities? Neither did we, until we read this op-ed suggesting that the repeal of neutrality will stifle health care innovations such as telemedicine, online appointment scheduling and mobile health apps – putting them further out of reach for...
A Camel is a Horse Designed by a Committee
A final tax bill has been negotiated by conference committee and initial details began emerging yesterday. Action is expected in the Senate as early as Monday. A conference committee may have been moot if not for a significant mistake; in the fervor of last minute promises and handwritten changes, Senate Republicans failed to check their work and mistakenly eliminated...
A Lump of Coal Wrapped Up with a Bow?
According to folklore, kids who misbehave get a lump of coal on Christmas morning instead of a present. While Congressional Republicans assuredly deserve that lump of coal, we’re hoping advocates get the gift of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) reauthorization. Congress avoided a government shutdown last week when they approved a two-week funding bill. They...
WA State Health Care Access: Room for Improvement
Our state’s annual health care quality report, the Community Check-up, was released last week and identified gaps in care. Unfortunately, an insurance card doesn’t necessarily mean access to care or access to quality care. The latest report from the Washington Health Alliance compares clinics, medical groups, hospitals, counties and Accountable Communities of Health on common...