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WAC ADVOCACY ALERT
February 22, 2001
PROPOSAL THREATENS TO REDUCE ACCESS TO THE BASIC HEALTH PLAN
In 1987, the Legislature created the Basic Health Plan (BHP) to provide subsidized basic health services
to low-income, uninsured people. Administered by the Health Care Authority, the BHP currently covers some160,000 Washingtonians. The BHP requires families to pay a co-pay in order to receive services.
There is currently a proposal to increase the amount of money a family has to pay. This increase in co-pays
may make the BHP unaffordable for many low-income people forcing them to drop coverage and therefore
be uninsured—leaving local health care providers to foot the bill for their uncompensated care.
Increasing BHP costs hurts the lowest income families most. Low-income families are already struggling to
make ends meet: to pay for housing, child care, transportation. They rarely have money to spare to cover
increased health care costs. For example, when the BHP premium share and co-pays were raised in the late
1990s, thousands of families immediately dropped their BHP coverage because it became unaffordable. A
similar drop in enrollment will likely happen if the proposed increases take effect.
It is also important to note that when people drop BHP coverage because of cost or cuts in eligibility, only
the sickest people remain on the BHP. This ends up increasing the health costs per covered enrollee for
providers. Those families who are healthy and don’t see an immediate need for coverage are typically the
first to drop their health plan, thereby leaving those people with serious health problems in the plan and
raising overall costs of the BHP for the state and the remaining enrollees.
It is also critical that we ensure that there is a network of providers to give care. Providers participate in the
BHP through insurance plans or HMOs. Reimbursements by the state must be adequate to allow providers
to keep their doors open and offer a full range of services. Many hospitals and medical practices throughout the state are struggling financially, and can take no more
cuts in funding. Increasing costs for drugs, technology and labor, plus cuts in Medicare and a host of other
factors make it impossible for hospitals and health care providers to absorb more cuts.
In order to ensure that we continue to provide the same level of BHP services we must not increase
co-pays or reduce reimbursement rates to providers. Contact your Legislators and ask that they protect
the Basic Health Plan (BHP).
TAKE FIVE (Actions that take 5 minutes or Less)
ISSUE: The federal government provides funding to Washington for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP), to subsidize home heating for low-income families. However, the state exhausts its federal LIHEAP funding
every year before the heating season is over, Serving only 17% of the eligible low-income population. Now, with the
recent enormous price increases in natural gas and electricity, and increased numbers of people seeking energy
assistance, the need for heating assistance is greater than ever. Requests are expected to increase by more than 40%
this winter. Under these conditions, fewer low-income children and families will be able to heat their homes.
Senate Bill
5717, which Senator Lisa Brown introduced in order to meet the heating assistance emergency, passed the Senate
unanimously on February 6th. This bill, now called Substitute Senate Bill 5717, would immediately provide an additional $2 million for
the state’s LIHEAP program, allowing 5000 more families to heat their homes. The funding would come from the present supplemental
budget. SSB 5717 was heard in the House Appropriations Committee on Monday (2/19). It is very important for this bill to be voted out of
the Appropriations Committee so it can be passed and signed into law, allowing Washington’s low-income families to heat their homes
for the remainder of the winter.
ACTION: Contact your representative
and ask that they "Please act today and support SSB 5717. Washington’s children and families
need help to heat their homes this winter.”
LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE: (800) 562-6000
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS:
Leave a message for legislators or the Governor at the toll free hotline: 1(800) 562-6000.
Write to your legislators:
Representatives: PO Box 40600, Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Senators: PO Box 40482, Olympia, WA 98504-0482
Or E-mail them! -- E-mail addresses can be found on the State Legislative Home Page,
http://www.leg.wa.gov .
Sara Fleming Merten
Public Policy Associate
Washington Association Of Churches
419 Occidental Ave S., Ste 201
Seattle, WA 98104
(206)625-9790 (ph)
(206) 625-9791 (fax)
http://www.thewac.org
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