WAHA Executive Director Larry Thompson has been selected to serve on the Washington State Exchange Board’s advisory committee. We are excited to be part of the implementation of the insurance exchange here in Washington. Full list of Advisory Committee members Continue reading »
Category Archives: Washington State
US Health Care: The Good News
“U.S. Health Care: The Good News,” a one-hour documentary about communities able to provide high-quality healthcare at costs far below the national average, will feature several organizations from the Puget Sound region. The film will premiere on PBS stations across the country this month and air locally on PBS affiliate KCTS Channel 9 at two … Continue reading »
Swedish & Providence Alliance
The Seattle Times reports that the merger between Swedish Health Services and Providence Health & Services is now complete. Read more here. Continue reading »
Insurers Use Payment and Incentive Plans to Lower Costs
Health insurance companies in Washington are rolling out new payment and incentive plans to lower costs. This article from the Puget Sound Business Journal outlines the patient centered medical homes, shared savings, accountable care organizations and other plans aimed at trimming costs. Continue reading »
‘Perfectly Aligned’ — What the health reform effort is really about
What if we tried “air travel reform?” In this speech delivered June 10, 2011 to the ODS Policy Forum, Steve Hill, director of the WA State Department of Retirement systems, examines past health reform efforts and concludes that quality, access and affordability must be addressed if health reform is to be effective. His entertaining ”air travel reform” analogy … Continue reading »
Shaving the State healthcare tab
Governor Chris Gregoire laid out recommendations today to bend Washington’s healthcare cost curve by beefing up the state’s purchasing power and using it to drive better quality and more affordable care. In the policy brief outlining the recommendations, Governor Gregoire noted that the amount the state pays each year to cover its employees and low … Continue reading »
Health reform: urgent action required
From Guest Contributor Jonathan Seib In the weeks since the Nov 2 elections, which some cast as a referendum on health reform, the Governor’s office has been getting questions about what may change at the state level in response. The answer: not much. The fact that there’s an ongoing debate about the merits of the … Continue reading »
