Bill allowing purchase of health care from other states dies

By BRAD SHANNON | Staff writer • Published March 10, 2010

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A bill giving Washington consumers an opportunity to buy health insurance from other states died in the Legislature this year under pressure from advocates for mental-health equality, massage therapists and others.

The proposal had been a priority for the Association of Washington Business and many Republicans, including state Rep. Doug Ericksen of Ferndale. It would have let the state insurance commissioner enter a compact with other states for the two-way sale of insurance plans for small groups registered in at least one of the states.

Major Washington insurers were neutral on the proposal, which would have helped businesses that had two to 50 workers in small-group insurance plans. But it�s an idea that has caught on with Republicans in the federal reform debate, and some Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, have suggested it�s worth doing.

�Our interest in the bill was to introduce some competition and put downward pressure on health care premiums. We thought this would be a good way to for that to happen through a compact process, which is used in � other insurance,� said Donna Steward of the AWB. �We�ll give it another shot next year.�

House Speaker Frank Chopp killed the first version of the bill in the House in mid-February, saying that mental-health advocates and others had come to him with worries that Washington�s consumer protections were in jeopardy.

�I had a number or organizations and letters that contacted me about the issue,� he said, adding, �as I became more knowledgeable about the bill, including (reading) letters from folks who were working on mental-health issues, they raised some legitimate concerns. So I felt that it wasn�t ready to move forward right now.�

Randy Revelle, a longtime champion of the parity law that requires insurers to cover mental and physical ailments on an equal footing, wrote one letter to Chopp that said, �out of state insurers would only need to meet the requirements and mandated benefits of the state where they are licensed.� That meant people with mental illnesses could be subjected to more discrimination, he warned.

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