Universal Healthcare in Washington — A First Step?

Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer has made no secret of her desire to establish universal healthcare — her version of Medicare for All — in Washington State.

Kuderer is going to push a bill forward in the 2027 Washington Legislature to get things moving. Oregon is moving the same direction as the Universal Health Plan Governance Board is going to present a universal healthcare plan to the Oregon Legislature next year.

If passed, Kuderer’s bill gives the her permission to develop a universal healthcare plan gives providers a monthly payment for all patients rather than billing each visit individually.

For the individual, depending on the income level, it will be low cost healthcare or free healthcare.

"We don't have a healthcare system,” Kuderer said. “We have a sickness system and I want a system in place that is preventive so that we are catching problems early enough where they can be addressed without hospitalization, without urgent care. It isn't working. It's not working for patients, it's not working for providers and I think it is long past time that we change it.”

The commissioner has admitted all of the details aren’t quite together yet. The big questions are what providers will be eligible, what services will be covered and how will all of this improve the number of providers working in Washington.

Ideally, Kuderer wants Washington State to spend 12 cents on primary care for every dollar spent on overall healthcare. That’s a goal the Washington Legislature passed in 2022.

Critics contend the state needs more competition in the private sector to bring healthcare costs down.

Source link: Big News Network — https://bit.ly/4yN51iV l

Source link: CBS News — https://bit.ly/4in1Lo2

Source link: Patty Kuderer on Medium — https://bit.ly/3WQ113G