Is bringing universal health coverage to WA a moonshot?

Plus updates on fundraising for insurance commissioner, superintendent races.

Wait, what’s the insurance commissioner do? Read our past coverage to learn more about how this election could impact health coverage in Washington.

The frontrunner for insurance commissioner of Washington, state Sen. Patty Kuderer, wants health insurers to focus less on making a profit and more on guaranteeing access to affordable health care without the threat of financial hardship. 

Despite unanswered questions around the feasibility and affordability of a universal health coverage system where the state is the primary payer, lawmakers haven’t completely balked at the idea of health care reform at the state level and have tried it in the past.

For six years, the Democratic majority in the Legislature has taken incremental steps to lay the groundwork for a single-payer health system, beginning with convening the UHC Work Group in 2019 and continuing that work with the UHC Commission in 2021. 

State. Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue.

Commission members continue to meet about once a month to discuss this strategy for health system reform.¹ Critics say the commission is slow-walking the path to UHC in Washington by focusing more on discussions with stakeholders and less on the necessary decision-making to get there. ²