January has been an exciting month for Universal Health Care bills in the Washington state legislature, but things seem to be settling down and we're able to report our positions on key 2019 legislation that sets us up for Universal Health Care once the State-Based Universal Health Care Act (SBUHC Act) is passed.

It is gratifying that we're seeing the fruits of the conversations with the legislators during and after the "Winning Universal Health Care: Federal, State, & Local Action"  forum January 26, 2019.

Check out last week's hearing on House Bill 1523, the 'Cascade Care' bill endorsed by Governor Inslee. It has been referred to as a public option, but it is decidedly not.

It is a well-meaning attempt to offer immediate help to people priced out of private insurance plans on the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. However, instead of a public option, the bill requires private insurance companies to offer for-profit insurance plans with standard benefits while keeping costs down by controlling the reimbursement rate.

The private insurance companies piled on at the hearing to bemoan the proposal. It's an eye-opening display of greed.

What you can do: HB 1523 is under active consideration by the House Health & Wellness Committee. Please submit any comments you may have before the committee meets Friday, February 8 at 8:00 am.

Go here to learn how to contact the House Health Care Committee members.

Go here to email your legislators, or call the Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000.

Letters to the Editor are an important advocacy tool. They are quick to write and are one of the most widely read sections in the newspaper. Many politicians and government agencies routinely clip and circulate letters to the editor as indicators of what is important to their constituents.

Below is a letter to the Seattle Times published February 1, 2019, urging Americans to go beyond stopgap measures. We hope it inspires you to write a letter to the editor to your local paper.

Updated February 16th with a letter that was submitted, but not published. Ken is on a roll!

On January 26, universal healthcare advocates attended a public forum featuring Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski, Representative Nicole Macri, State Senators David Frockt, Joe Nguyen, & Bob Hasegawa. 

Photo by Maria Kearney. More photos here.

You can watch the entire forum below.

In this blog, former RN and longtime HCFA-WA supporter Cris Currie addresses a common concern. Once upon a time, from the 1930s through most of the 1960s, the phrase “good enough for government work” was meant as a compliment for a job really well done. Its meaning is much different today, and far too many potential supporters of Medicare for All have no confidence in government work and do not want the government to be involved in their healthcare. How should single-payer activists respond to this concern? 

There are several state healthcare bills in the hopper for the 2019 legislature to consider — including the Cascade Care bill Governor Inslee announced this week. We are steadfast in supporting much-needed temporary relief from the high cost of insurance and healthcare, but it must be a bridge to a sustainable, publicly administered and funded system.

That it has received early press coverage means that we need to continue to advocate for true health care reform: HR 676 at the Federal level and WHST-like plans for Washington state. Keep up the noise for a true singlepayer system!

The very first hurdle for our new bills will be passing them out of their respective Healthcare Committees. It is imperative to convince these legislators to support our bills and amendments.

If you are a committee member's constituent, your contacts with your legislator are supersized. Your calls, emails, letters and bill comments are vital! To find your legislative district, go here and enter your address.

Thanks to Washington voters, there will be a lot of pressure on the state legislature to deliver a path to single payer universal health care in the 2019 Legislative Session.

Here's what happened in the historic, high turnout  2018 Midterm Election:

We gained six new Legislative Districts with at least one legislator supporting single payer healthcare reform in the 2018 General Election!