New report echoes nationwide health care crisis. Advocates demand lawmaker action.
This press release was originally published by Fair Health Prices Washington, a coalition co-led by NoHLA.
SEATTLE, WA – Declining health coverage should alarm everyone in Washington state, consumer health advocates warn. A new report from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (WAHBE) reveals that nearly 40,000 fewer Washingtonians have coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder in 2026 compared to last year – a whopping 13% drop. WAHBE operates Washington Healthplanfinder, the state’s marketplace for health & dental plans, and as they put it, “We haven’t seen a drop of this magnitude in the Exchange’s history.”
Many Washingtonians are foregoing coverage as they face rising premium costs, made worse by Congress’ failure to renew enhanced premium tax credits. Premiums for individual coverage rose an average of 21% from last year. For many, this amounts to hundreds more dollars every month – and that’s before out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles.
“This is a crisis,” asserts Sam Hatzenbeler, Seattle resident and Legislative Director at the Economic Opportunity Institute. Hatzenbeler also co-founded Fair Health Prices Washington — a coalition of consumer, business, union, and provider advocates that support policies to lower health costs. “Health is fundamental. Without coverage, people get sicker, lose work, lose housing, and lose hope. Health care is the number one economic concern of people across the nation, and Washington is no exception.”
WAHBE and groups like Fair Health Prices Washington have been warning of the rampant unaffordability of health care and urging state policymakers to enact solutions. The Washington legislature recently approved funding for Cascade Care Savings, which provides state-funded premium assistance, but only at maintenance level and nowhere near meeting increasing needs and prices. The legislature failed to pass several revenue proposals that could have helped more Washingtonians, such as a tax on insurers’ billions of excess surplus dollars.
The West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America conducted a 2025 survey that indicates an estimated 82 million Americans compromised their basic needs to pay for health care in the prior year. Washingtonians did too, according to a 2025 survey led by Altarum, with support from Fair Health Prices Washington. In Washington, more than 2 in 3 respondents reported skipping or delaying care due to cost, and almost 70% carried at least one health care affordability burden in the last twelve months. Health costs are forcing individuals and families to cut back on other necessities like utilities and groceries, and to skip medications and treatments.
“We have to hold our representatives accountable,” remarks Daphne Smith, co-executive director at Northwest Health Law Advocates and Spokane community member. “We cannot continue enabling the rich to get richer while the rest of us pay more and still struggle to get the care we need. We need lawmakers to take action because they hold power and lives are at stake.” The urgency for state action has been heightened as H.R.1 is being rolled out, which puts an additional 1 in 20 Washington residents at risk of losing health care.
The problems with health care will impact us all, sooner or later, say advocates. “There are ripple effects when folks can’t afford coverage and care,” explains Jim Freeburg, Executive Director of Patient Coalition of Washington and Renton resident. “We’re not reducing care needs or expenses. We’re shifting them to other parts of the system that are already stretched too thin.” Freeburg outlines a common pattern: treatment gets delayed until issues become emergencies, leading to more costly care needs, worse outcomes, missed work, and medical debts – with interest rates up to 9% – that can lead to bankruptcy. State legislators failed to pass a 2026 bill that would have significantly reduced this burden.
Leaders from the Fair Health Prices Washington coalition note that premium affordability and medical debt are just some of many health care issues that state lawmakers can and must address. In recent years, they and many other advocates have called on policymakers to restrain corporate influence and skyrocketing health care prices, asking, “If not now, when?”
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Fair Health Prices Washington is a partnership of patient groups, nonprofit consumer advocacy organizations, business leaders, and labor unions working together to make health care more affordable using a range of proven policy solutions.