From Washington State Standard article, "Where Affordable Care Act insurance coverage has dropped most in WA" by Jake Goldstein-Street:
Enrollment increased nowhere in the state, but some areas have been hit harder than others.
Rural counties saw some of the biggest drops in coverage between March 2025 and this March. Over 1,100 Yakima County residents went without insurance via Washington Healthplanfinder, amounting to a nearly 18% fall.
Meanwhile, residents of rural areas are more likely to rely on Healthplanfinder for their coverage, said Emily Brice, co-executive director at Northwest Health Law Advocates. “The real challenge there is that folks in rural areas are hit by this double whammy,” Brice said. “They have the soaring prices on one end and then access challenges on the other end, because providers are increasingly less available, more consolidated in rural areas.”
“Nobody thinks that signing up for health coverage is easy now,” Brice said. “Who asked for this? Nobody said ‘I want my health insurance coverage process to be more complicated and annoying.’”