What do state Reps. Schmick, Hinkle, Bailey, McCune, Warnick, Short, Haler, Taylor, Kristiansen, Angel, Johnson, Condotta and Klippert have in common? They all received the maximum allowable campaign donation from one or more insurance industry donor, and are all sponsors of HB 1361, “Eliminat
ing mandated health care benefits under state law.”
Over the years, Washington state has adopted legal protections for minimum coverage from any health care plan offered in the state. HB 1361 says that all of those protections go away, and are replaced by the federal minimum standards, so health care in Washington can be as bad as it is in the worst states in the nation.
The other thing these representatives have in common is that they are Republicans. I thought the Republicans were big on 10th amendment “state’s rights.” Why would they give up Washingtonians’ right to mandate health care in our state, and defer to the federal government? And I thought the Republicans didn’t like the new federal standards in the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care act” (a.k.a. “Obamacare”). Didn’t they just vote to repeal it? Maybe that’s the idea; locally replace state protections with federal protections, while at the same time, remove protections at the federal level, so there’s no protections at all.
Insurance companies make the most profit when they charge high rates and can limit the number of claims they have to pay out on, so if this bill passed, their increased profits should make their campaign donations well worth the price.
The good news is that, at least on paper, all of these representatives work for the people of Washington. Perhaps it’s time to give them a call, tell them to oppose HB 1361, and remind them who they work for … in case they’d forgotten.
Tom Riggs
Camano Island
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