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No-Go State Legislative Session For Health Care
The 2002 Washington State Legislature did not pass any significant health care legislation during the sessions that lasted from January 14 to March 14. Here is a summary of the legislative sessions' highlights as they relate to employers. (For details, see our monthly Legislation Updates in the Archive section of this newsletter.)
Legislators introduced two potentially important bills - one to change some rules under which the small-group (50 or fewer employees) health insurance market operates, and the other to allow the state to use its buying power to get lower prices on prescription drugs. Both bills were debated, but in neither case did the majority of lawmakers find the arguments persuasive. The House Health Care Committee is studying the prescription drug bill in the legislative interim.
Throughout the short session, lawmakers were preoccupied with deciding transportation expenditures and revising the 2001-2003 state budget to make up a $1.2 billion shortfall. Although some observers expected legislators to eliminate health programs for low-income residents, including children, those programs survived.
Go to http://www.leg.wa.gov/house/opr/HC/hcrpt.htm for a summary of bills passed, along with the legislature's action on the budget and transportation.
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