An April 7 op-ed, “Cuts to Washington hospitals will damage youngsters statewide,” doesn’t inform the total story. Hospitals say that legislative proposals will put strain on their backside strains. However Washington households have been hammered by excessive well being prices for many years. State legislators aren’t proposing to “reduce” care – they’re asking the well being trade to cease treating sufferers like clean checks.
It’s time for hospitals and different well being trade gamers to face an uncomfortable fact: Washington households can’t bear the excessive value of well being care.
Well being care cost growth in our state has outpaced wage growth for decades. In a 2024 survey of greater than 1,000 Washingtonians, greater than half of these surveyed reported skipping care as a result of they couldn’t afford it. Almost one-third of households reported having medical debt. Public servants, akin to lecturers, have seen well being care prices improve by nearly 7% annually.
We agree that some proposals to chop well being spending are irresponsible. Congressional plans to chop $880 billion from Medicaid and different important packages can be catastrophic for sufferers and hospitals alike. One in four Washingtonians, together with youngsters, individuals with disabilities, elders and low-wage employees, depend upon Medicaid for his or her care.
However right here within the different Washington, legislators have a extra considerate proposal to handle recognized value drivers. Latest state knowledge reveals that per-person well being spending jumped 30% over just six years, driven by a 21% increase in prices. Rising hospital costs have been a key contributor to this progress. Some Washington hospitals cost three or four times what Medicare pays for a similar care. That cash comes straight from the pockets of working households, from native companies and our state funds.
As a substitute of letting well being prices proceed to rise unchecked, why not develop a focused answer to rein within the highest outlier costs, whereas reinvesting in wanted care? Why not begin with the well being protection the state gives for lecturers and different public servants, making certain that we’re prudent stewards of taxpayer {dollars}? Why wait any longer, when household budgets and the state funds are below pressure?
Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, and Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, aren’t ready: They’ve a plan. Senate Bill 5083 units an inexpensive restrict on what hospitals can cost public employee plans, saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars and decreasing out-of-pocket prices for households. The invoice reinvests a few of these financial savings in behavioral well being and first care entry.
We all know this method works. Oregon proved it in 2019 when it adopted an analogous coverage and saved $100 million in two years while decreasing worker out-of-pocket costs by nearly 10% — with out harming care.
Hospitals say they will’t discover any efficiencies. We don’t purchase it. The Legislature simply invested $1 billion in hospitals by increasing Medicaid rates, beginning final 12 months. The USA spends more on health care yet has worse patient outcomes than every other developed nation. Gifted, dedicated individuals lead our native hospitals – absolutely we will discover some methods to drive higher worth for sufferers.
There’s an previous saying that if you happen to’re not on the desk, you’re on the menu. Our well being trade has ignored the realities working households face for too lengthy. We should always know: We have been state well being coverage insiders for many years. We’ve watched because the native well being care we as soon as knew has been swallowed up by huge enterprise and enterprise capital. We’ve labored in hospitals, and we love our native hospitals – however they and different trade gamers should be a part of the answer.
We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made in our state – 95% of Washington residents now have coverage – however that protection isn’t value a lot if individuals can’t afford to make use of it. It’s time to take a unique method.
[Editor’s note: Mark Stensager, former director of Seattle-King County Area Agency on Aging and a former hospital executive, contributed to this op-ed.]
