See the entire 2009
WSLC Legislative Report
Health coverage for all?
SB 5945 sets 2014 goal, mitigates cuts' damage
Health care advocates left this year’s legislative session with grave concerns and huge challenges. The Legislature cut $1 billion out of Washington’s health care, public health, and long term care system, crippling the Basic Health Plan, vastly increasing the number of uninsured Washingtonians and seriously straining our community health clinics and emergency rooms.
Meanwhile, in the other Washington, there is finally consensus that the ailing U.S. health care system must be reformed—and a president willing to tackle the crisis. So there is hope that the job-killing costs of health insurance and the immoral bankrupting of families facing health crises will soon end.
However, in our state, supporters of accessible, affordable health care don’t want all of our eggs in this federal basket. In 2009, we wanted to mitigate the damage from budget cuts while continuing to build upon the incremental progress in health policies made in recent years. And we wanted to position our state to take full advantage of changes at the federal level so their positive impacts can be felt as soon as possible.
So the good news this year on health care was that the Legislature approved SB 5945 to establish a goal of guaranteeing quality affordable health care coverage for all Washingtonians by 2014. This legislation was strongly supported by the Healthy Washington Coalition, a group of more than 90 health care, hospital, labor and community organizations—including the Washington State Labor Council—that supports secure, quality, affordable, health care for all Washingtonians.
In addition to setting the 2014 goal, SB 5945 consolidates state purchasing of health coverage and streamlines administration. Plus, it seeks a federal waiver allowing the state to offer coverage, through an Apple Health program, to adults in families with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level.
This positions our state to take full advantage of money in President Obama’s economic stimulus legislation. Those federal matching dollars for Medicaid will help preserve our state’s health safety net: the Basic Health Plan, public health and children’s health programs, long-term care, mental health and family planning.
Health Care Committee Chairs Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent) and Rep. Eileen Cody (D-West Seattle) deserve credit for their leadership in advancing SB 5945. The bill passed the Senate 28-19 and the House 62-35.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed SB 5945, but vetoed an important section establishing quarterly meetings by an unpaid advisory group to "monitor the progress of health care reform legislation at the federal level, with the goal of aligning state health care activities so that the state is prepared to participate in federal health care reform..." Gregoire said she did this because no appropriation was made to cover staff time for the advisory group, but we are concerned it will prevent stakeholders from offering important input on critical decisions.
There are many, many more stories included in the print version of the WSLC's 2009 Legislative Report. See the Table of Contents. Also, members of WSLC-affiliated unions can request a free copy of the printed version of the report.
2009 Senate Voting Record -- 2009 House Voting Record
Copyright © 2009 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO