November 04, 2022

by Consuelo Echeverria The Universal Health Care Commission’s (UHCC) October meeting focused on the mandated report due Nov 1st to the Washington State Legislature.  At the same time our neighbor to the south, Oregon released its Joint Task Force on Universal Health Care report...

September 27, 2022

Public Comments Lead the Way by Marcia StedmanSeptember 27, 2022 At Meeting #7, the Commissioners grappled with key elements that must be included in their Nov. 1 Report to the Legislature. Takeway #1 - Need for a clear articulated plan  Having received significant pushback...

January 20, 2022

We are spotlighting the members of the Universal Health Care Commission who introduced themselves at our Second Wednesday Speaker Series on December 8. On the recommendation of the offices of the Washington State Health Care Authority and the Attorney General, we invited only the...

January 19, 2022

We are spotlighting the members of the Universal Health Care Commission who introduced themselves at our Second Wednesday Speaker Series on December 8. On the recommendation of the offices of the Washington State Health Care Authority and the Attorney General, we invited only the...

December 30, 2021

By Cris M. Currie, RN (ret.) The Traditional Medicare program is once again in serious trouble.  The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is currently assessing a new pilot privatization program called Global and Professional Direct Contracting, where all Traditional Medicare beneficiaries could...

December 20, 2021

Highlights from Dr. Kemble’s talkFind a PDF of his slideshow here. A lot of money flows through public programs, particularly Medicare and Medicaid. Private business interests want to tap into this money, but claims processing is only about 2% of healthcare dollars. If private...

September 17, 2021

September 8: Lowering Prescription Drug Prices in Washington State  Policies to control high prescription drug prices have been proposed at the federal level, but very little effective action has been taken.(But now there’s an opportunity, with the #BuildBackBetter Reconciliation Package being debated right now!...

February 19, 2021

Elaine Cox with contributions from Sarah Weinberg, MD We’ve seen and heard a lot of questions and discussion about why HCFA-WA is endorsing 2SSB 5399,  Concerning the creation of a universal health care commission. We’d like to address some of these concerns using a Q &...

February 18, 2021

Our February 10 one-hour Work Group Findings Zoom meeting featured four members of the Universal Health Care Work Group: Denny Dellwo, former chair of the Washington State House Health Care Committee; Lynnette Vehrs, MN, RN, and president of the Washington State Nurses Association; Ronnie...

January 28, 2021

Published 1/26/21 in the Spokesman-Review From HCFA-WA members Cris Currie, RN (ret), MA, former Rep. Denny Dellwo, Dan Schaffer, MD, and Lynette Vehrs, RN, MN: To the Editor: Imagine if everyone in Washington state could get truly affordable, high quality health care, when they...