A group of more than 50 Washington women filed a lawsuit against state Attorney General Rob McKenna on Thursday, alleging that the Republican gubernatorial candidate violated his ethical duty when he signed on to a multi-state lawsuit to overturn President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on a lawsuit brought by 26 attorneys general — including McKenna — that challenges Obama’s federal health care overhaul. McKenna has previously said he doesn’t oppose the entire act, only the individual mandate that requires everyone to have health insurance.

The group of women is seeking a court order that would force McKenna to ask the Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s protections for women’s health care. They say the Affordable Care Act provides extensive protections for women’s health care, including a prohibition on lifetime coverage caps and access to preventive care, such as breast and cervical cancer screenings.

McKenna’s campaign manager Randy Pepple issued a statement calling the lawsuit “frivolous,” saying that rival candidate Democrat Jay Inslee was attempting to distract voters using “health issues of innocent women to try to score political points.”

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On this week’s edition of The Impact, we take a closer look at the K-12 health insurance bill that drove the Legislature into double overtime. We talk with a school employee who can’t afford to insure her family, as well as the bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.

We also take a look at a number of tax changes that were adopted during session, with input from Rep. Gary Alexander (R) and Rep. Chris Reykdal (D), both of Olympia.

Tags: healthcare, insurance

I talked with Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler about the health care exchange bill that Gov. Chris Gregoire recently signed into law. It creates an online marketplace called an “exchange” where Washington residents will be able to shop for health insurance starting in January 2014, when federal health care reform comes into full effect.

Kreidler talked about what the exchange will look like for consumers, and what’s ahead if the U.S. Supreme Court rules to strike down all or part of the federal Affordable Care Act.

How will the health care exchange differ from the insurance market that’s in place now?

You’ll have ‘inside’ the exchange and ‘outside’ the exchange. Inside the exchange, it will operate like a marketplace where you can compare insurance companies in a way you that you can’t do today. There will be four levels of plans (bronze, silver, gold and platinum) that will vary depending on the cost consideration of the consumer. For example, the platinum level costs the least in out-of-pocket expenses, but it costs the most in premiums. There will be tiers outside the exchange, but it won’t be as easily comparable as within the exchange.

Can you describe what it will look like?

It’s a work in progress. It will be one where people can go to a screen, enter their income, and be able to see all of the plans that are available to them. They may chose to narrow it down and say ‘I want less out of pocket expense for what I have to pay when I go see a doctor’ or ‘I want to keep my premiums down.’ It is a comparison you can’t do in today’s market. It’s the Travelocity approach, where you can do a comparison of a particular flight and how much you want to pay for it.

In the exchange, you have the advantage of subsidies. Those will be offered to lower-income individuals all the way up to families of four with a household income of $92,000 a year. Up to that point, they could qualify from some sort of subsidy.

Will all residents be required to purchase health insurance through the exchange?

If they want a subsidy, it will be the only place they can get a subsidy. But it is open to anybody who wants to buy there. If they are paying for it themselves, they could go inside or outside the exchange. There are some advantages to buying within the exchange — you could do comparisons of plans for people who like to do their own research.

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Tags: exchange, healthcare, mike kreidler

On The Impact tonight, you’ll see updates from a couple people we interviewed just after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law.  The original interviews were part of our hour-long special report, Shock to the System: How national reform is changing your health care.  Tonight, we find out what’s happened to Liz Teisan, a woman who was denied insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions.  We also check in with Don Conant, a small business owner and skeptic of the law, who is now involved in the law’s implementation at the state level.  I also have a one-on-one interview with Attorney General Rob McKenna about Washington’s involvement in the legal challenge of the individual mandate and other provisions of the Affordable Care Act.  Due to time constraints, we had to cut short that interview on the show, so here it is in its entirety.

You can watch The Impact Wednesday nights at 7 & 10 p.m. on TVW.

Jessica Gao, host of The Impact, interviewed state Attorney General Rob McKenna today about the lawsuit challenging the federal health care overhaul. The Republican gubernatorial candidate joined 25 other attorneys general in the lawsuit, and says he’s opposed to the law’s mandate that requires everyone to have health insurance.

This morning, protesters gathered outside of McKenna’s office and demanded that he drop out of the lawsuit, which is currently in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Below is a short clip from the interview where McKenna offers his response to the protesters, saying they must be “perfectly content” with allowing the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether or not they have health insurance. Under the law, Americans must be covered by a basic health insurance plan or pay a tax penalty starting in 2014.

The full interview will air Wednesday at 7 & 10 p.m.

Tags: healthcare, McKenna

Gov. Chris Gregoire marked the second anniversary of the federal Affordable Care Act by signing legislation today that will help the state comply with the new rules when they go into effect next year. It also comes days before the Supreme Court is due to hear arguments challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care overhaul.

The bill lays out a process for creating a healthcare exchange — or a marketplace where state residents and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance. Supporters say people will be able to browse and select insurance plans based on reviews and price, much like an online shopping site.

Watch the video below for Gov. Gregoire’s remarks about the legislation, as well as Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler and others.

Tags: healthcare exchange

Gov. Chris Gregoire is scheduled to sign more than two dozen bills this morning, including one that will help the state implement President Obama’s federal healthcare reform. Gregoire has been refusing to sign the vast majority of bills into law as a way to pressure lawmakers to get the budget done. She eased up her position earlier this week, though, saying budget writers were making some progress.

A number of the bills are tied to the supplemental transportation budget, including:

HB 2660: Imposes a $100 annual fee on electric vehicles, which supporters say is a way to recoup lost revenue from gas taxes that the owners of electric vehicles don’t have to pay. General Motors opposed the fee in a letter to Gregoire, saying the electric vehicle market isn’t strong enough to support new taxes or fees yet.

SB 6150: Raises fees for a driver’s license from $25 to $54 starting in July 2013. The license will be good for six years instead of the current five, and it will use new facial recognition technology to identify drivers.

Later in the day, she’s signing the Heathcare Exchange bill at a Group Health clinic in Olympia. The bill prepares the state for compliance with federal rules when they go into effect in 2014, laying out the process for creating a healthcare exchange — or a marketplace where state residents and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance.

A complete list of bills she’s signing can be found here.

Tags: healthcare exchange, transportation

Gov. Chris Gregoire said Wednesday the state will appeal a judge’s ruling that Washington state cannot compel pharmacies to sell emergency contraceptives such as Plan B.

Ralph’s Thriftway in Olympia and two other pharmacists first brought the suit in 2007, arguing that they should not have to dispense Plan B or other emergency contraceptives because it is against their religious beliefs. U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton issued a ruling last month saying the state’s rules violate the constitutional rights of the pharmacists.

Gregoire said in a statement she fully supports the decision to appeal the ruling.

“Any decision that puts patients at risk by delaying or denying them lawful and lawfully prescribed medications should be carefully reviewed by a higher court,” Gregoire said.

Tags: healthcare

Several legislators held a press conference today to draw attention to what they say is an attack on women’s healthcare rights in the budget proposed by Senate Republicans and three moderate Democrats.

“This budget moves us backwards,” said Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-Seattle. The budget proposal includes a 27 percent cut in family planning grants, which help provide reproductive health education and services. It also reduces funding to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Nelson said.

They called for the revival of a bill requiring insurers to cover abortion services. It passed the House with a 52-46 vote, but when Republicans took control of the Senate floor using a procedural maneuver earlier this month, the bill was essentially killed — along with other non-budget bills that hadn’t yet come up for a vote.

“We must shine the light on this attack on a woman’s right to chose, ” said Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma. Jinkins said she believes there are enough votes for the bill in the Senate, and she wants to see it called to the floor during special session.

The group also celebrated the two-year anniversary of President Obama’s federal healthcare reform, or the Affordable Care Act. The Legislature passed a bill during regular session that helps the state implement the act, which the governor is slated to sign on Friday,  said Sen. Karen Keiser.

Meanwhile, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday that budget writers are making significant progress, and she may be open to signing more bills into law. Last week, Gregoire said she wouldn’t sign the vast majority of bills — or veto them altogether — if lawmakers didn’t make progress on budget negotiations. Since then, she’s slowed her bill signing ceremonies down to a trickle.

Tags: Budget, healthcare

Senators Karen Keiser, D-Kent, and Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, talk with host Austin Jenkins about this year’s biggest healthcare issues — from medicaid fraud to abortion insurance coverage. New episodes air Thursdays at 7 & 10 p.m.

Tags: healthcare