by Chetanya Robinson

South Seattle Emerald

Senator Bob Hasegawa, who represents Washington’s 11th District (Renton, Tukwila, part of Kent, SoDo, the Industrial District, Georgetown, and South Park), introduced a bill that would create a healthcare trust allowing everyone in the state to access affordable healthcare, vision care, dental, and mental health care.

Hasegaewa’s bill, SB 5204, has six co-sponsors so far.

Hasegawa said in an interview with the Emerald that the multiple crises of the past year — the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic downturn, and the need to address racial disparities —  make universal healthcare an urgent priority. The Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities shows how intertwined healthcare is with disparities in housing, education, and more, Hasegawa said. “It’s pretty clear that everything is related to health.”

Polling from 2020 shows that 63% of Americans — and 88% of Democrats — believe the federal government should play a role in providing healthcare. 

“Universal healthcare is one of the most fundamental systems changes we can, and we should be, looking at right now,” Hawgawa said. “It’s been constantly shuffled to the bottom of everybody’s pile, and the point of this is to put it back on the top of the pile and put it front and center because the people want it.”

Hasegawa has introduced universal healthcare bills in the past, including a similar bill in the 2019–2020 legislative session, which never received a hearing.

This year, Hasegawa hopes the healthcare bill will at least get that, and start conversations about universal healthcare. “The likelihood of it passing, frankly, is very small,” Hasegawa said. “I think the more important piece for this bill is that it gets to the top of people’s minds.”

Cindy Jacobs, a board member of the Whole Washington coalition that helped draft the bill, is cautiously hopeful. “This is probably the most optimistic I’ve felt about its chances,” she said.

The bill follows a plan for universal healthcare laid out by Whole Washington. If SB 5204 doesn’t pass the legislature this session, the group will file the same text (with few small changes) as a ballot initiative to the legislature in March. 

If passed, the bill would create a single, centralized nonprofit health care trust in which everyone in the state can enroll and access healthcare services. Monthly premiums would be capped at $200, and exempt for low-income residents. It would eliminate high deductibles and copays, and dramatically drive down the price of prescription drugs.

[…]

Via Senator Bob Hasegawa Introduces Washington Universal Healthcare Bill — South Seattle Emerald