WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Innovative health care options for all

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law five years ago. Two years ago, Washington state initiated the Healthcare Exchange Authority to oversee the delivery of affordable, quality healthcare for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Washingtonians.

In 2014 I sponsored HB 2351, which authorized the Seattle Center to team with Remote Area Medical to offer a free clinic for dental, vision, and mental health care to several thousand Washington residents last October.

Now Washington state is leading the way again, adopting new options for employees to pursue quality, affordable care. We’re grateful to our health care providers and insurers for introducing innovative health care options to all our people.

Be sure to read this story from the Seattle Times on new health benefit offerings:

An approach to health care that supporters tout as better quality for a lower price will be offered to some Washington state employees beginning next year.

The Washington state Health Care Authority, the agency that manages benefits for public workers through the Public Employee Benefits Board (PEBB), has signed deals with the UW Medicine Accountable Care Network and the Puget Sound High Value Network to provide coverage to PEBB members.

The arrangements are similar to an accountable care organization or ACO — a strategy for delivering health care that has taken off under the Affordable Care Act and is growing nationwide. In Washington, there are already ACOs and ACO-like options for residents. including Medicare participants and Boeing workers.

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