Our friend, Jane*, is also breathing a sigh of relief. Jane is a gardener who was uninsured for most of her adult life – until the Affordable Care Act made coverage a reality. For years, Jane dealt with various health issues that challenged her ability to make a living. When she enrolled in Washington’s Medicaid...
Category: News
Senate Republicans Rush to Repeal ACA and Cut Medicaid
Today, the Senate is expected to vote on a new version of ACA repeal legislation. After votes on other versions failed, Republicans may now pursue a “skinny” repeal bill – but its contents remain unclear and it could be beefed up. If passed, this bill could either be directly voted on by the House, or...
House Committee Passes Budget Resolution Slashing Medicaid and Medicare
While everyone’s eyes have been on the Senate, the House Budget Committee passed a budget resolution along party lines last week. The resolution cuts $487 billion from Medicare and $114 billion in savings from Medicaid above and beyond those included in the House-passed health care reform bill. These would be devastating on top of the...
Legislature Calls it Quits with a Medicaid Dental Cut and No Capital Budget
After a lengthy 193-day session, the Legislature adjourned last week, approving an operating budget in the nick of time but failing to pass capital budget. The operating budget effectively cuts the already underfunded Medicaid dental benefit by requiring a switch from fee-for-service to a carved-out dental managed care arrangement, pairing the move with unrealistic savings...
New Health Equity Tool for ACH Evaluation
The Consumer and Community Voices (CCV) Work Group of the King County Accountable Community of Health (ACH), including NoHLA senior staff attorney Daniel Gross, created an equity assessment tool for the ACH to use in developing Medicaid demonstration projects. The tool – which the ACH will use in designing its Medicaid Transformation Demonstration projects – requires...
Surprise Billing Persists in Washington– NY Times Highlights Problems with EmCare
NoHLA has long advocated for consumer protections from surprise medical bills – when a consumers receive unexpectedly large bills from health care providers that they had no idea were out-of-network. Over one in five visits to an in-network emergency room result in an out-of-network doctor’s bill. Despite this problem, a House proposal in the Legislature...
Charity Care Challenges Continue in Yakima Valley
A 2016 report by NoHLA and OneAmerica found that Yakima Regional and Toppenish Hospitals were not adequately providing charity care to patients in need. Now, both hospitals are being acquired by Regional Health, which is pursuing Certificate of Need (CON) approval from the state Department of Health. NoHLA and OneAmerica submitted written comments expressing concern...