WashingtonCAN

Secure Health Care for Washington

Washington CAN! has a bold plan to guarantee that all Washington residents receive the same quality health care that our elected officials have had for years. We’re calling on lawmakers to build a Secure Health Insurance Partnership. It’s a uniquely American solution that would guarantee quality, affordable health coverage for all Washington residents – providing all families quality choices, security, and peace of mind.

Universal Coverage. The Secure Health Insurance Partnership would be a statewide purchasing pool, through which everyone living in Washington could purchase quality health insurance plans on a sliding-scale according to their income. Individuals, small businesses, and associations would all receive coverage through the Partnership. Large businesses could choose to cover employees through the Partnership to transition away from the employer based system.

Standard Benefits and Quality Choices. Coverage through the Partnership would be comprehensive – equal to what is now available for elected officials. Everyone would receive standard benefits from their choice of public or private health plans. Individuals would be able to choose their own doctor. Systemic reforms would be implemented to address cultural competency, language access, and racial health disparities.

Affordable for Families and Taxpayers The Partnership would lower health insurance costs by taking advantage of the bargaining power of the state purchasing pool to negotiate lower premiums from insurance companies. Individuals and families would pay premiums on a sliding scale according to income. Publicly financing catastrophic health care costs would dramatically reduce insurance premiums by as much as fifty percent. Common sense investments in preventive care would save money and reduce unnecessary and expensive emergency room use. Government would be a watchdog over private insurance companies – setting reasonable rules to lower insurance prices and administrative costs, and limit excessive profits.

Security and Peace of Mind. Insurance companies would be required to keep plans open to everyone and charge fair premiums, regardless of pre-existing conditions, medical history, age, and other characteristics. Health coverage would be tied to the individual rather than to their employer, so workers could change jobs without jeopardizing their health insurance. Medical bankruptcy would be eliminated by publicly financing catastrophic coverage.

Shared Responsibility. Individuals, businesses, and the government must each do their part to achieve universal coverage. Individuals would pay premiums on a sliding scale. Businesses would contribute their fair share to cover employees. Government would provide premium assistance for those who need it. A People’s Working Group will be formed to engage Washington residents in regional discussions to determine and understand our shared responsibility.

Get the Facts about the Health Care Crisis

Our health care system is failing. We’re paying more and more, but you can’t count on coverage when you really need it. And while skyrocketing health care costs are leaving us behind, insurance company profits are on the rise. Enough is enough. We can and must do better.

Insurance companies put profits ahead of our health. Five percent of people – those who are older, sick, and most in need of care – account for 50 percent of health care costs. Insurance companies maximize their profitability by excluding people with a history of illness or pre-existing condition and cherry-picking the healthy and wealthy for coverage. The result: excess surplus for the top three health insurance companies in Washington grew to over $2.1 billion in 2006, more than doubling since 2002. [WA Health Care Authority, 2005; WA Office of the Insurance Commissioner, 2007.]

600,000 Washington residents are uninsured. More than 70 percent are members of working families. An estimated 18,000 uninsured Americans die every year because they lack access to care. [WA State Office of Financial Management, 2006; Institute of Medicine, 2002.]

More and more, even those with health insurance are not secure - facing inadequate coverage, or at risk of losing what coverage they have. Nearly one in three non-elderly Washington adults go uninsured over a two year period. Half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. Three-fourths of those bankrupted had health insurance at the time they were sick or injured. [Families USA, 2005; Warren et al, 2005.]

Employer-based coverage is eroding. In 2004, 38 percent of companies in Washington State did not offer health insurance. One in five Wal-Mart employees in Washington receive state-subsidized health coverage for themselves or their dependents. [WA State Office of Financial Management, 2006; Seattle Times, 2006.]

Small businesses and self-employed individuals are especially vulnerable. Premium costs have increased more rapidly for small businesses than for large ones, but the quality of coverage they receive is lower. One-third of the uninsured are self-employed. [Gabel & Pickriegn, 2004; WA State Planning Grant Access to Health Insurance Project, 2006.]

Racial disparities plague our failing health care system. Racial and ethnic minorities are up to three times more likely than whites to be uninsured. A lack of interpretation services creates additional barriers for non-English speakers to access care. [US Census Bureau, 2004.]

Our health care system is inefficient. Overall, administrative waste consumes 31 percent of US health care spending. Administrative overhead for private health insurers is over three times greater than in public programs like Medicare and the Veterans Administration. Washington hospitals and other health care providers provided up to $848 million in uncompensated care for the uninsured in 2005. [New England Journal of Medicine, 2003; Office of the Insurance Commissioner, 2006.]

To get more involved in the Secure Health Care campaign, please contact us at 206-389-0050