Good News: Healthy Pregnancy and Contraceptive Access Bills Pass Washington Legislature
The Healthy Pregnancy Bill, SB 5835, passed the Legislature after a unanimous House vote last week. It is now awaiting the Governor’s signature. This bill requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women in the workplace. The bill also establishes the Healthy Pregnancy Advisory Committee House to develop strategies for improving health outcomes for...
Cost Sharing Reductions Remain in Jeopardy
Cost sharing reductions (CSRs) are subsidies offered by health plans under the ACA to consumers who have a household income below 250% of the poverty line, including 70,000 Washington residents. CSRs help to limit deductibles, co-insurance and co-payments for low-income enrollees. Insurance companies pay these costs and are currently reimbursed by the federal government. But...
Concerning “Marketplace Stabilization” Rules Adopted by Federal Department of Health and Human Service
As we’ve said before, there is a great deal the Trump Administration can do to change health programs without Congress repealing or changing the Affordable Care Act. Last week, HHS adopted a final rule aimed at stabilizing the health insurance marketplaces that were set up by the ACA. Some of the most alarming impacts of...
Staff Spotlight: Huma Zarif
Huma Zarif is a Staff Attorney at Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA). She graduated from University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a concentration in Health Law. Prior to law school, Huma worked as a social worker for over eight years, including at Harborview and Swedish Medical Centers. She obtained both her Bachelor in...
What’s Next in Congress?
As Congress is in recess from now until April 21st, this is a good time to catch up on what’s happening and make your voice heard. Here’s a summary of what’s been happening and what we can expect to happen next from Community Catalyst: What’s Happened So Far? In early January, Congress passed a budget resolution...
What’s Happening in the Washington Legislature?
NoHLA’s Third Legislative Update In Olympia, legislators are considering many bills related to health care access. See NoHLA’s Legislative Update #3– a chart of these bills and their statuses (as of 3/29/2017) with links to detailed information. Comparing the House and Senate Budgets The Senate and House have passed their budgets and must now reach...
American Health Care Act (AHCA) Bill Is Pulled from the House
Obamacare is the Law of the Land…For Now On Friday, March 24, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) was removed from the House floor resulting in a failure to vote. Although Republicans have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) more than 60 times, this was the first time they presented a detailed proposal...
What would AHCA mean for Washington?
What would AHCA mean for Washington? Washington has fully implemented and reaped the benefits of the ACA, decreasing the uninsured rate by 60%. Now, less than 6% of our residents are uninsured. If we switch to the AHCA, the uninsured rate will be higher than it was before the ACA. Governor Jay Inslee and Insurance...
ACA and Medicaid Update 3/21/17
American Health Care Act (AHCA) Bill Moves Through the House Breaking News: Top Republican lawmakers have announced a slew of amendments to the Republican healthcare plan ahead of the House vote Thursday. Many of the amendments were pushed by conservatives within the Republican Party. One amendment seeks to halt immediately the Medicaid expansion program. Another...
ACA and Medicaid Update 3/3/17
No plan yet…: In his first congressional address, President Trump delivered a vague, five-point summary of health care positions related to repealing and replacing the ACA. When he mentioned giving governors the “flexibility they need with Medicaid” he was alluding to efforts long pursued by Republicans to restructure Medicaid’s financing structure (read “cut”) using per capita caps and/or...