health care « Washington Policy Watch

February 1, 2011 • 7:40 am 0

With lives in the balance, voters should decide the fate of the Basic Health Plan

Aubrey Davis, EOI Board Member

by Aubrey Davis

From the Seattle Times: TWENTY years ago, Washington created the Basic Health Plan (BHP) to provide reasonable health care for people who work for employers that do not offer them insurance and do not pay enough for them to afford to buy individual coverage on the market. The BHP is partly financed by income-adjusted premiums paid by participants, and since 2002, partly by a voter-approved tax on cigarettes.

Today, facing a massive revenue shortfall thanks to the recession, lawmakers are weighing whether to shut down the BHP entirely. The consequences of doing so were vividly described by Times reporter Carol Ostrom’s story ["Amid budget crisis, hard health-care decisions: Where to cut?" Jan 13]. The loss would not only threaten people’s health, but their very lives. And it would eliminate a program that will be fundamental for the state’s participation in national health-care reform in 2014.

The irony is that the BHP, while financed by direct-user payments and a voter-approved tax, faces closure. Meanwhile, our state is forgoing billions in tax revenue through hundreds of corporate tax loopholes and exemptions that voters never approved in the first place, and that haven’t been seriously re-examined since.

Read the full column in the Seattle Times »

Filed under: health care, tax and budget, basic health plan, health care, Health insurance, Insurance, state budget, tax break, Washington

December 27, 2010 • 8:20 am 0

2010 was just the beginning

John Burbank, Executive Director

If you are a regular reader of Washington Policy Watch, you know that the next few years – much like the last few – will be rough going for Washington’s workers, families and children. But you also know that we can’t give up the effort to forge a path forward that restores middle class hope and opportunity.

That’s why – at a time when over 1 million Washington workers can’t take paid time off when they or their children get sick – we are building local coalitions to advance a minimum paid sick days standard.

That’s why we’re spearheading a statewide effort to defend Social Security – and working with national organizations in the “other Washington” to increase Social Security benefits.

That’s why we sounded the alarm about the attack on Washington’s minimum wage law – and helped form a rapid-response team of labor and progressive organizations to successfully defend it.

And that’s why we will continue working for fair taxes that will sustainably fund public education, health care and the other public services that are critical to our economy and our way of life.

Real progress is possible if enough of us want it and work together to achieve it. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help EOI lead the charge in 2011.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

~John Burbank
Executive Director, Economic Opportunity Institute

Filed under: EOI, early learning, Education, health care, Minimum wage, paid sick days, retirement security, social security, taxes

September 27, 2010 • 8:12 am 0

Reason #3 Why I-1098 Is Right For Washington: We’re not investing enough for a healthy population

In 2008, over 800,000 Washington residents lacked health insurance. Since then, the ranks of the unemployed have increased while health care costs have continued to soar, adding many more to the uninsured. Yet state budget deficits have forced suspension of state funding for children’s vaccines, cuts in services for fragile elderly and disabled people, and a 43% reduction in funding for the Basic Health Plan (BHP) for low income working adults. The BHP cuts mean that 40,000 fewer Washingtonians have health coverage, and many of those remaining on the plan have higher premiums. By late August 2010, BHP’s waitlist represented more than 120,000 individuals.

Washington’s Basic Health Plan: Enrolled Vs. Waiting List

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: health care, tax and budget, health care, I-1098, income tax, tax reform

September 16, 2010 • 7:46 am 0

Chart of the week: How will Initiative 1098 help limit the impact of the Great Recession on Washington?

Since the Great Recession began in 2008, more than $5 billion has been cut from Washington’s budget — and current forecasts show another $3 billion shortfall in tax receipts. The cuts have been particularly devastating to public education and health.

Among the cuts: $479 million in voter-approved student achievement funding disappeared when tax revenues bottomed out, and $236 million for the Basic Health Plan, which subsidizes low-cost health plans for low-income working adults.

Okay, so those are big numbers. But what do they mean specifically for Washington residents? Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: state economy, tax and budget, health care, higher education, I-1098, income tax, k-12, small business, tax reform

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Washington Policy Watch

With lives in the balance, voters should decide the fate of the Basic Health Plan

Reason #3 Why I-1098 Is Right For Washington: We’re not investing enough for a healthy population

Chart of the week: How will Initiative 1098 help limit the impact of the Great Recession on Washington?

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