Washington Health Security Trust, a Single Payer Healthcare Plan for Washington
WHEREAS we, the citizens of the United States, pay twice as much for healthcare as the other industrialized countries, yet are less healthy than our peer nations, suffering from more heart disease and chronic conditions, shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality, and
WHEREAS the newly enacted Affordable Care Act (ACA), intended to lessen our healthcare spending and improve our health outcomes, fails to ensure that all residents of the state can be insured at a price they can afford, and
WHEREAS HB 1085 and SB 5224 were introduced in the Washington State Legislature to create a Washington Health Security Trust (WHST), a single-payer system to cover all Washingtonians for medical, dental, and mental health care, and vision, and
WHEREAS in 2017, the federal government will grant innovation waivers to those states that can prove their healthcare plan is as good or better than the ACA, and
WHEREAS, as a single-payer system, the WHST would provide equal care to all Washington residents and would allow patients to freely choose their doctors, and
WHEREAS, the WHST would provide savings and efficiencies, including reducing administrative costs and unreimbursed care and the social costs of personal injury lawsuits and bankruptcy, and
WHEREAS the WHST could rationalize healthcare spending through mechanisms such as global budgets for hospitals and negotiated drug prices, and
WHEREAS the WHST would facilitate health planning, directing capital funds to build and expand health facilities where they are needed, rather than being driven by the dictates of the market, thereby improving health outcomes for currently underserved communities, and
WHEREAS the WHST could ameliorate the current disparities in reimbursement rates to healthcare systems in the rural and urban areas of Washington,
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the 24th Legislative District Democrats, urge our legislative delegation to become cosponsors of the Washington Health Security Trust bills to be introduced in the 2015 legislative session.
Presented by Deborah Pedersen to the 24th Legislative District Democrats
Passed on January 10, 2015