News Releases
Office of Governor Chris Gregoire
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 6, 2007
Contact: Governor's
Office, 360-902-4111
Governor Gregoire Introduces gHealthy
Washington Initiativeh
Proposed legislation builds on recommendations of the Blue Ribbon
Commission on Health Care to improve quality, address costs and increase access
to care
OLYMPIA – Governor Chris Gregoire today introduced the
gHealthy Washington Initiative,h a comprehensive health care bill that makes
strategic investments to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon
Commission on Health Care Costs and Access.
gWashingtonians know that
access, quality and cost go hand-in-hand and they are ready for us to move
forward and take a comprehensive approach to health care,h said Governor
Gregoire. gQuality, affordable health care is a right, not a privilege, and the
Healthy Washington Initiative will make changes that bring us another step
closer to serving all Washingtonians.h
Governor Gregoirefs proposed
health care legislation takes a number of steps to implement the recommendations
of the Blue Ribbon Commission to improve quality, address costs and increase
access to care, such as:
- Extending Coverage to Young Adults
Young adults aged 19 to 25
make up nearly 29.8% of the uninsured in Washington. Many of them become
ineligible for coverage through their parents, are just beginning their
careers and may not be able to afford or have access to health coverage
through their employer. Governor Gregoirefs gHealthy Washington Initiativeh
requires insurance companies to address this gap in coverage and extend
eligibility to unmarried children under the age of 25, by either continuing to
allow the employer to contribute to the cost of coverage or allowing the
employee to pay the cost in full;
- Health Coverage Portability
Washington has the second highest
number of temporary employees of any state and is among the top ten states in
the number of on-call workers and day laborers. Many of those workers, when
they move to a new job, leave their health insurance behind. The gHealthy
Washington Initiativeh directs the Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) to
design a connector as a statewide public-private partnership through which
health insurance can be bought and sold; and
- Reducing Emergency Room Visits
In 2005, there were nearly 2.3
million emergency room visits to hospitals in Washington. Many of these visits
are a result of poor preventive care or are children who do not have coverage
but may be eligible for Washingtonfs childrens health care programs. The
gHealthy Washington Initiativeh directs the HCA to provide grants to those
community health centers that work with local hospitals to reduce unnecessary
emergency room visits. It tracks these types of visits and asks the Washington
Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the HCA to work with local
providers to design a demonstration project that will reduce these unnecessary
visits.
gThis bill is the first step to move us from the recommendations of the
Blue Ribbon Commission to results that are meaningful to Washingtonians,h said
Governor Gregoire.
Other measures included in the gHealthy Washington
Initiative:h
- Establishes the Washington Quality Forum to address why patients receive
different kinds of treatment depending on where they live;
- Implements a health information technology system so that our medical
records are available from anywhere in the state in a safe and secure way;
- Directs Washington state agencies to change the way they pay for health
care by paying only for care that improves health;
- Expands chronic care management programs to better serve the five percent
of patients who drive 50 percent of the costs;
- Directs the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to look closely into high
administrative costs and what can be done about them;
- Directs the state to design and model a reinsurance program that would
cover high-cost claims so that we can keep health insurance more affordable;
and
- Makes the best use of existing state program by directing DSHS to look for
ways to partner with the federal government to expand coverage in Medicaid and
in the Basic Health Program.
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Related Links:
- WAV: Governor Gregoire Introduces "Healthy Washington Initiative"
- Governor Gregoire's Healthy Washington Initiative
- MP3: Governor Gregoire Introduces "Healthy Washington Initiative"
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