ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
Washington's governor is expected to sign legislation today which will create a quasi-public health insurance option ("Cascade Care") starting in 2021.
It will still involve private insurance companies in terms of managing the plans, but it sounds like the state is the insurer. The idea is that the state would not need to create a new managed care bureaucracy. I'm sure more details will be coming but there are a few things I note.
First, it still involves private insurers terms of management, so it is subject to their whims, capriciousness and ability to pull out of some markets, usually rural areas. But since the state is the payer and the insurers only manage the plans (like many 'self-funded' large employer plans), insurer motivation to abandon lesser populated areas should be reduced. (It still seems to allow regional differences in plan availability and pricing, which has been a bane to rural consumers.).
It remains to be seen how they will incorporate these into Marketplace tiers, though it sounds like three are planned. Not sure if that means all HMOs like so many other plans today. It appears the state is looking at subsidies up to 500% of FPL, unlike the 400% in federal law.
Washington State to Offer Public Insurance Plans by 2021 | Time
It will still involve private insurance companies in terms of managing the plans, but it sounds like the state is the insurer. The idea is that the state would not need to create a new managed care bureaucracy. I'm sure more details will be coming but there are a few things I note.
First, it still involves private insurers terms of management, so it is subject to their whims, capriciousness and ability to pull out of some markets, usually rural areas. But since the state is the payer and the insurers only manage the plans (like many 'self-funded' large employer plans), insurer motivation to abandon lesser populated areas should be reduced. (It still seems to allow regional differences in plan availability and pricing, which has been a bane to rural consumers.).
It remains to be seen how they will incorporate these into Marketplace tiers, though it sounds like three are planned. Not sure if that means all HMOs like so many other plans today. It appears the state is looking at subsidies up to 500% of FPL, unlike the 400% in federal law.
Washington State to Offer Public Insurance Plans by 2021 | Time
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