UHC: Has to be affordable, high-quality, and also *not* have long wait times

[jasg]

@survinga

OK, so now the state of Washington has passed a law that will pave the way for a public option. See link for details. This will be a big deal in that state, and might provide a template for other states to follow.

UPDATE x4: So Washington State just passed an ACA Public Option... | ACA Signups

As I’ve said repeatedly, the path to UHC in America will come gradually through the states. I’d like to see it quicker. But that won’t happen as long as the Pubs control any one of the House, Senate or White House.

I hope we do better than we did the last time.

@Sarah Kliff

In 1993, Washington state passed a law guaranteeing all residents access to private health-care insurance, regardless of their health, and requiring them to purchase coverage.

The state legislature, however, repealed that last provision two years later. With the guaranteed-access provisions still standing, the state saw premiums rise and enrollment drop, as residents purchased coverage only when they needed it. Health insurers fled the state and, by 1999, it was impossible to buy an individual plan in Washington — no company was selling.

<snip>

Jonathan Hensley, who then served as president of local health plan Premera Blue Cross, recalls one letter he got from a healthy woman canceling her insurance policy.

“She wrote in her letter that she very much appreciated our excellent service [and] that she would certainly pick our plan again when she became pregnant,” says Hensley, who now works for Cambia, another health insurer in Washington.