RIP RPA

Today nearly every insurance plan in Washington covers both maternity services and abortion services. However, the Affordable Care Act could inadvertently limit these reproductive choices by requiring additional administrative red-tape for abortion services. 

This change would interfere with a woman’s ability to make the best decisions for her family and her health.

Enter the Reproductive Parity Act (RPA) sponsored by House Health Care and Wellness Committee Chair Rep. Eileen Cody and 40 other co-sponsors. It would require insurance companies to continue their current policy of covering a full range of reproductive choice. The bill ensures fairness and protects freedom in a woman’s health care decisions. 

It passed the House back in February, and received a hearing in the Senate Health Care Committee on April 1st. At that hearing, Senator Steve Hobbs presented a letter signed by 25 senators who support the RPA – the majority needed to pass.

However, it appears the bill won’t be heading to Governor Inslee’s desk this year. The bill did not come up for a vote in committee ahead of Wednesday’s policy cutoff deadline.

Washington voters have a long history of supporting reproductive rights that stretches back over 40 years. Two years before Roe v. Wade, Washingtonians approved Referendum 20, which legalized abortion in the early stages of pregnancy.

Then again in 1991, when it looked like Roe could be overturned, voters approved Initiative 120, which protected a women’s right to make a private choice with her doctor regardless of what occurred at the federal level.

The Seattle Times, editorializing in favor of the RPA, summed it up perfectly:

A woman’s decision to become a mother shouldn’t be determined by a lack of resources or insurance. 

It’s a deeply personal choice between a patient and her doctor. Washington state has a history of respecting that right and should continue to protect it.

Refusing to let the RPA come up for a vote in the Senate is a defeat for women and privacy in Washington. This decision doesn’t reflect our state’s values.

You can find more information on the RPA here. You can also read some of the national attention the RPA and House Democrats have received over at the New York Times, Salon and Jezebel.

Read this story in Spanish.

Health care for our heroes

As we move into the last month of session, lawmakers will be making tough decisions about the future of our schools, public safety and transportation system to name just a few.

A decision that shouldn’t be so tough: Whether or not to expand the Medicaid program.

Beginning next year, the federal government is offering to send our tax dollars back home to cover 385,000 Washingtonians making less than $15,000/year. Over the next two years, Medicaid Expansion is estimated to save our state about $275 million.

There is no shortage of good reasons to support Medicaid Expansion, and the Urban Institute has just given us yet another.

On the national level, about 1.3 million American veterans go without health insurance. But it doesn't have to be that way.

We can all agree that we have a responsibility to these heroes, as well as their families, who have sacrificed so much for us. Medicaid Expansion gives us another opportunity to make good on that promise.

From the Urban Institute:

An estimated 40 percent of uninsured veterans (535,000 people) have incomes that, under provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could qualify them for Medicaid.

Whether or not these veterans qualify for Medicaid under the ACA depends on whether – and which – states opt to expand Medicaid.

Most of those eligible – about 414,000 uninsured veterans – will only have new coverage options if they live in a state that expands Medicaid.

Right here in Washington state, about 12,200 veterans would be eligible for health care coverage under Medicaid Expansion. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we can all agree this is a step in the right direction.

For the Urban Institute’s complete report, follow this link.

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Rep. Cody receives AMA’s highest honor

Our very own Representative Eileen Cody received the American Medical Association’s Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Public Service by a State Legislator last night in Washington, D.C.

The Davis Award is the AMA's highest honor for government service in health care. It is named after the AMA's founder and recognizes the work of elected and career officials in federal, state and municipal service whose contributions have promoted medicine and the betterment of public health.

“Rep. Cody has led efforts toward improving health care access for low income individuals and transforming mental health services in Washington state,” said AMA Board Chair Steven J. Stack, M.D. “Her dedication to public health has also earned the state national recognition for its long term health care services and support system.”

Rep. Cody was nominated by former Governor Gregoire for the award. Rep. Cody has been twice previously recognized by the Washington State Medical Association as Legislator of the Year. The WSMA noted Rep. Cody’s previous efforts to advance public health in our state.

When she's not being honored by national organizations, Rep. Cody works as a nurse at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle and serves as chair of the Health Care and Wellness Committee.

In the legislature, Rep. Cody has worked for improved patient safety, mental health parity, public health services and to restore the universal purchase of vaccines.

More recently, she has led efforts to implement the federal Affordable Care Act at the state level. Largely because of her work, Washington is one of just six states ready to implement the health benefits exchange on-time in 2014.


Photo: Rep. Cody with (at left) Terry Moran of ABC News and AMA Board Chair Steven J. Stack, M.D. Photo courtesy of the American Medical Association.

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Moving forward on health care reform

It's full steam ahead for Washington state's health exchange after the federal government gave the Washington Healthplanfinder an O.K. earlier this week.

In order for the exchange to be up and running by 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services give conditional approval before January 1, 2013.

Our state is one of only six states to meet this deadline.

House Democrats didn't wait around for the Supreme Court to make their ruling on Obamacare. Last session, we passed legislation to ensure that we'd be ready to make health care more accessible, portable, and affordable once the ACA coverage provisions are implemented.

Our early action has paid off to the tune of more than $150 million in federal funding.

The Washington Healthplanfinder and other reforms are aimed at the largest remaining groups of people without health coverage: young adults, college students, workers at small businesses, the self-employed, and people who can't afford to buy health coverage on the individual market.

The program is designed to make it easier to compare health plans and get a better price for the coverage you want. This effort has been led by House Healthcare and Wellness Committee Chair, Rep. Eileen Cody.

A registered nurse, Rep. Cody said that, "Health coverage is one of the basics. Your family needs a home, food on the table, clothes, health care – it's just fundamental, and our goal with this legislation was to make it easier for every family, rich or poor, to get affordable health care for their loved ones."

Washingtonians with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level may qualify for premium financial assistance. Current estimates say that more than 200,000 uninsured residents will now be able to receive benefits.

For more information, visit the Washington Health Benefit Exchange website.

Read this story in Spanish here.

What does health care reform mean to people in Washington state?

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding national health-care reform (the Affordable Care Act) means that Washington state – already a national leader on health care – can continue moving forward on reforms.

Those reforms include innovations that Washington state has led the nation in implementing,including:

• the health care Exchange, a marketplace to make it easier to shop for health coverage;
• the Basic Health Plan, to offer affordable health care for people who can’t afford to buy health insurance on the individual market;
• Apple Health for Kids, part of Washington state’s effort to make sure every child has health coverage;
• evidence-based medicine; and
• moving away from simply paying for medical services like doctor visits and surgeries and toward paying for results – better health.

The court ruling means national health-care reform will work hand-in-glove with Washington state’s ongoing efforts. For example, budget cuts had threatened the existence of the Basic Health Plan, but national health reform means the federal government will soon cover the state’s costs for the BHP.

Washington was also one of the first states in the nation to set up a health care Exchange, a marketplace where people can buy private health insurance in a much simpler way than they can today.

Right now, truly comparing health insurance would take a health care expert with a law degree, reading stacks of health care policies. The Exchange also allows individuals and businesses to buy more affordable health coverage with the advantage of federal premium tax credits.

The Exchange board and staff are working through the steps needed to begin open enrollment on October 1, 2013, for coverage beginning January 1, 2014.

Other steps that our state has already taken to implement the Affordable Care Act include:

• extending health insurance to family members up to age 26, to cover college students and young adults, who typically do not have health insurance; 
• no co-payments for preventative health care, such as immunization shots; and 
• the elimination of lifetime caps on health benefits.

Related links:

Supreme Court upholds Obama health law

The history of the US health care reform effort

Where states stand on implementing health care law

Insurance Commissioner Kreidler: Affordable Care Act upheld –Washington now ahead of most states

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

ACA repeal could have serious consequences in Washington

Everyone’s speculating on what the U.S. Supreme Court will decide next month about the federal  Affordable Care Act  (ACA).  But you don’t need to speculate about what the court’s decision could mean to Washington State or your local county.

A new report issued Tuesday by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kriedler shows that repeal of the ACA could have dramatic and dire consequences for workers, businesses, families and senior citizens across Washington. The new report—What's at stake: The Affordable Care Act in Washington state. A county-by-county analysis—documents that if the Affordable Care Act is repealed in its entirety, the loss would:

• Cancel a 2014 expansion of Medicaid that would provide coverage to 328,000 currently uninsured Washingtonians.
• Eliminate subsidies that are scheduled to begin in 2014 that would help an additional 477,400 uninsured Washingtonians to afford private health insurance.
• Cancel the phase‐out of the prescription‐drug “donut hole” that is inflating the costs of prescription medications for more than 1 million Washingtonians on Medicare.

The report also shows many of the 5.8 million currently insured Washingtonians could be whacked if the court strikes down key ACA provisions that are currently in effect, such as the measure’s ban on lifetime dollar limits for health benefits, the ban on deductibles or co-pays for preventive services, and the provision of tax rebates for small businesses and expanded coverage for early retirees.

So there is no need to ask who will be affected by the forthcoming Supreme Court decision. Everyone in Washington will be affected … for better or worse.

To read this story in Spanish, please click here.

So how is the Affordable Care Act working out for you?

After its first two years, the Affordable Care Act is working out very well for many, many Washingtonians.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in a press release that “by far the most popular benefit of health reform that we hear about is the ability for parents to keep their adult kids on their health plans – especially in today’s economy.”  Indeed, so far more than 52,000 young adults up to age 26 have stayed on their parents’ health plans.  

But lots of consumers are seeing other very significant benefits:  

Prescription drugs for seniors
62,660 seniors received a $250 rebate to help cover the cost of their prescription drugs and 60,209 seniors received a 50 percent discount on their covered brand-name prescription drugs, which resulted in an average savings of $598 per person, which all added up to a whopping $35,999,334 in savings in our state! 

Preventive services
653,723 people received free preventive services or a free annual wellness visit with their doctor. And 1,239,000 Washingtonians with private health insurance gained preventive service coverage with no cost-sharing. 

No more lifetime limits on health benefits
2,427,000 Washington residents can breathe easier since they no longer face lifetime caps on their health benefits.  

New options for folks with pre-existing conditions
As of the end of 2011, 708 previously uninsured Washingtonians who were locked out of the coverage system because of a pre-existing condition are now insured. To learn more about the plan go here. 

Kreidler said that if the opponents of health reform succeed in overturning the new law, “what will they say to the nearly one million people in Washington without health insurance who get up every day hoping they don’t have a medical emergency? –The Affordable Care Act is not perfect, but it moves us in the right direction and is the only meaningful health reform that’s passed in decades.” 

To read this story in Spanish, please click here.