State Legislative Session Wrap-up
This week, NoHLA released summaries on passed legislation and the final operating budget relating to health care access in the Washington State Legislature. Check them out!
Legislative Session Spotlight: Paid Family Leave
The Washington State Legislature secured the passage of paid family leave this legislative session. While this is not directly health care-related, it will have a significant impact on the health of families in our state. Washington State tinkered around the edges of paid family leave previously, but never figured out how to fund it. Family...
Uncovering Maternal Mortality
A flurry of articles lately address the troubling trend of increasing maternal mortality in the U.S., which has doubled in the last two decades. Two women die each day due to pregnancy-related complications and another 175 women suffer severe complications requiring major medical intervention — equivalent to about 65,000 close calls annually, according to the...
Good Start, But It’s Not Over Yet!
We breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing the news Thursday night that the latest efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had failed. A few Republican Senators voted no: our collective phone calls, messages, conversations and personal stories were pivotal in achieving this outcome. But the fight is not over. The Senate...
A Life Saving Outcome
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...
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...