The Olympian

Legislators optimistic about health care changes

'The pieces are jelling,' Democratic senator says

BY BRAD SHANNON | THE OLYMPIAN • Published March 12, 2007

Health care changes are starting to take shape in Washington's capital with almost one-third of the legislative session left to run.

The state House has approved one major bill that could lead to a public-private "partnership" or insurance exchange that lets small businesses, workers and the state pool resources on insurance plans in 2009.

The Senate had also approved a major overhaul measure that would address 16

different recommendations from last year's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Health Care Access and Costs.

The Senate also approved a flat-fee plan letting individuals pay doctors for limited coverage that is outside the insurance arena.

Together, the measures are raising hopes across both sides of the Democratic-Republican divide that some kind of real reform is in reach.

"The pieces are jelling. I've never seen this kind of willingness - the 'let's just try,' " Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, said Saturday of the new attitude that has risen up this year.

"There's a lot of energy on this."

"We're a long way from the end, but the fact we got a bill as significant as (SB) 5930 out of the Senate this early in the session is very significant," said Republican Sen. Linda Evans Parlette of Wenatchee.

Parlette has other ideas in the mix that have not gone anywhere, but she's still trying, and considers the session far from over. One would offer insurers more options for coverage plans that target young adults in the 19-34 age group, because that age band represents just more than half of the state's 593,000 uninsured, Parlette said.

In the House

The same kind of optimism can be heard in the House, where House Bill 1569 won approval on a 53-44 vote on Saturday afternoon. Republican Rep. Bill Hinkle of Cle Elum had worked across the aisle with Democratic Rep. Eileen Cody of West Seattle on the connector or insurance exchange concept - and both sides altered their stances during more than a month of negotiations.

"It is bold," Cody said of the joint proposal. "It is a compromise."