This year’s Washington Legislature enacted many bills that are intended to improve access to health care – perhaps an unprecedented number – and much other health legislation. We saw progress in improving access to care, including added coverage for immigrants, an effort to address insurance affordability, and bills to advance health equity. Some session highlights,...Continue reading→

Very shortly after my maternal “near miss” in 2016, the Washington State Legislature funded a Maternal Mortality Review Panel to take a closer look at maternal deaths in our state. The work was only funded through June of 2020. This year, SB 5425 proposes to make the Maternal Mortality Review Panel permanent and make some...Continue reading→

We were shocked to see that the Senate and House are both proposing a huge budget cut for Medicaid by assuming over $350 million in savings for “program integrity.” The Health Care Authority says these extraordinary savings assumptions are unrealistic. Even worse, the Senate includes significant additional Medicaid cuts (see our budget update for details)....Continue reading→

Required vaccinations are a hot topic in the legislature this session. Long-standing scientific consensus summarized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Washington State Department of Health underlines the safety, effectiveness, and importance of these vaccinations. A recent measles outbreak centered in Southwest Washington, almost entirely among unvaccinated children, reminded us...Continue reading→

In this last year of the decade that began with Congress passing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), our state is poised to take its biggest step yet towards preserving important health care rights for Washingtonians, come what may in D.C. or federal courts. The Washington State Legislature has passed a bill (SHB 1870) to make...Continue reading→