Pflug health care reform bill puts consumer in driver’s seat   

February 10, 2009

OLYMPIA…Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, today introduced a health care reform bill designed to increase access to quality health coverage for all Washington citizens.  

The bill would form Apple Health, a co-operative that facilitates the purchase of health insurance. It would bring together individuals, small businesses and public and private health insurance carriers into a single marketplace that offers a variety of health care plans.

“The beauty of Apple Health is that it changes the entire health insurance delivery system to benefit the consumer,” said Pflug, ranking Republican on the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee. “It would allow individuals and employees to own their health plan, which they would take from job to job and then could change the plan as their needs change.” 

Senate Bill 5947 would help citizens purchase health insurance by allowing employers to contribute health benefit dollars into their employees’ personal health insurance account. Each employee would then use the money to buy a health plan that fits his or her needs, and both employers and employees would get a tax advantage for participating. Individuals could also buy a plan, starting with very low-cost plans for healthy young adults. The co-operative would offer a variety of health plans to fit any individual or family need and budget.

“Apple Health would allow a two-income family to combine the employer contributions from both jobs instead of being forced to select only one employer’s plan,” Pflug said. “If an employee or individual couldn’t afford a plan, the state would offer premium assistance, thus reforming the way publicly funded health insurance is offered in Washington. As their income rises, they could seamlessly move from state-subsidized insurance to privately paid insurance without changing plans.”

According to Pflug, participating in Apple Health would open up the insurance market to any willing carrier whose plans were approved by the Office of Insurance Commissioner. The new health insurance cooperative would be able to reduce health insurance costs because of administrative savings, increased competition and greater risk-pooling.

“With Apple Health, those who struggle with expensive small group or individual policies would see premiums fall because they’d be participating in a large pool,” Pflug said. “State taxpayers would see savings because they’re able to take better advantage of private contributions and offer more affordable benefits in the safety net – assuring that our most vulnerable citizens have compassionate care at a sustainable price. Most importantly, with consumers in control of purchasing decisions and private-sector competition, we’ll keep quality high, yet costs will drop.”

A similar idea received strong support recently from the Mathematica study of various health care reform models because it showed a significant reduction in the rate of uninsured. 

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Sen. Pflug represents the 5th Legislative District, which includes North Bend, Maple Valley, Issaquah, Sammamish, Fall City, Snoqualmie and
parts of rural King County.

For more information contact Pat Albright
at (360) 786-7519 or albright.pat@leg.wa.gov^.