Washington State Insurance Commissioner Proposes Requiring Minimum Health Care Coverage For All Residents

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler (D) on Jan. 16 suggested that state residents be required to carry a minimum level of health insurance, the Seattle Times reports. Under the proposal, individuals would be required to have coverage only for basic health care and catastrophic care. In addition, the proposal would set premium rates for basic coverage based on a single, large pool comprising all state residents. Outlining the proposal in a speech to the Seattle Rotary Club, Kreidler called the idea "politically possible, durable, and uniquely American." He did not "go into details" of the proposal, the Times reports. Instead, he said that "it is imperative to begin brainstorming solutions to the health care access problem now." Aaron Katz, director of the University of Washington's Health Policy Analysis Program, "said he supported Kreidler's call to begin brainstorming solutions" but cautioned that there are several details "that need to be worked out" about the mandatory insurance proposal, including how to enforce the policy, how to make the basic insurance "affordable" and how to ensure that people "would have the means" to pay for necessary health care that falls between the required basic and catastrophic coverage. Kreidler said, "Obviously, the devil's in the details. I wanted to be provocative. We need to start this dialogue on health insurance." The Times reports that with budget and transportation problems before the state Legislature, "major health care proposals likely will not be pushed this session" (Ostrom, Seattle Times, 1/17).

Kreidler's Seattle Times Opinion Piece
Washington state has "gone beyond a health insurance crisis and [is] fast approaching catastrophe," Kreidler writes in a Seattle Times opinion piece outlining his plans for mandatory coverage. Kreidler writes, "There are no simple answers -- only realities and practical choices. Those who imagine that the 'market place' will somehow be our salvation and not further fragment the existing system are as unrealistic as those who believe a government-run system will miraculously happen anytime in the foreseeable future" (Kreidler, Seattle Times, 1/17).