Happy Fantastic Friday!
It has been a busy week in our state Capitol as we finished debating on the House floor. Here is what we have been up to since last week.
I voted to pass three great health care bills to improve access to health care for everyone in Washington state, protect consumers, and create a new social security program for long-term care services.
Cascade Care is a new series of plans on the health exchange for those who purchase their own health care rather than receive insurance from their employer. There are 70,000 people who buy plans on the exchange with a deductible of $9,000 or more. That’s simply unacceptable. Cascade Care offers cheaper plans with lower deductibles and a simple, easy to understand list of comprehensive services.
Balanced billing, or surprise billing, happens to far too many people. It happens when you go to a hospital that is in-network and covered by your insurance, but one of the medical providers (like an anesthesiologist) is out-of-network. Most of the time the patient does not know about this and weeks or months later they receive a bill in the mail saying they owe. That’s unfair, and puts consumers in the middle of a billing dispute. The House voted on legislation to protect consumers from this unfair practice.
The Long-Term Care Trust Act creates a brand new social security program to provide long-term care services. Most people do not save for long-term care, but most people end up needing some form of help as they age. With more people than ever moving into the 65+ age bracket, we need to start planning for the need for these services.
Future leaders see government in action on class field trip
I was joined by some very special guests this week. Students from Island View Elementary School in Anacortes and Lopez Island Elementary School on Lopez Island came to visit. We chatted about the importance of leadership and public service. I can’t wait to see what these little leaders do in their communities.
The House took action last week to help protect our Southern Resident orcas from further decline, who now only number 75 and are threatened with extinction. Together, we passed legislation to prevent oil spills (House Bill 1578), recover Chinook salmon habitats (House Bill 1579) and reduce noise from marine vessels (House Bill 1580).
We are also working to increase funding for salmon recovery in the Snake and Columbia Rivers, particularly around increased “spill” of water at federal dams and a stakeholder forum to identify and detail the investments for community transitions that will be needed if there is a decision to remove the four lower Snake River dams. Both of these are recommendations by the Orca Recovery Task Force.
Watch my video update on oil spill prevention on Twitter.
Native American Voting Rights Act signed by Gov. Inslee
This week I attended the bill signing of the Native American Voting Rights Act. Soon, our tribal communities will be able to use designated tribal building addresses and federally recognized tribal ID cards for voter registration. Support for voter registration and ballot drop boxes will also be available. |
Thank you all for taking to the time to read this week’s Fantastic Friday, and for taking an interest in our progress at the House of Representatives. I will be sending out a Fantastic Friday letter each week throughout the legislative session.
Please feel free to reach out to me using the information below, with any questions, inquiries, or concerns you may have.
I am here for you!
All best wishes,
Rep. Debra Lekanoff