What do we mean by universal health care?
- Coverage designed and administered by the state
- Care delivered by private and public providers, clinics and hospitals
- Financed through a unified single-payer system
- From cradle to grave, all Washingtonians covered by state, federal, or tribal programs
How do we get there? Through legislative advocacy.
Our track record of success:
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2026: In response to the drastic cuts to health care by the current Federal administration, HCFA-WA focused in 2026 on protecting Washingtonians’ access to critical health services and affordable health care. Thanks to the advocacy of our members and coalition partners, we successfully passed bills that protect rural healthcare, preserve preventive services such as low-cost vaccines and affordable reproductive care, ensure more timely payment of insurance claims, guard against the use of Artificial Intelligence in prior authorizations, and protect patients from sudden disruptions and surprise price increases when health care entities change ownership. We also succeeded in passing the Millionaire’s tax, a crucial source of funding for these protections. To learn more, please navigate to our Current Legislation page.
We were pleased to note that the Legislature also retained funding achieved in 2025 that supports the Universal Health Care Commission and the design of an auto-enrollment process for those who lose Medicaid and qualify for Health Benefit Exchange plans.
- 2025: Thanks to HCFA-WA supporters who sent more than 3,000 messages to legislators during this Session, six of our priority bills were passed into law, including a resolution endorsing universal health care principles and laws that improve healthcare access and affordability and ensure that medical debt will not impact credit scores or reports. In the context of a significant reduction in the state budget, we also secured $514,000 for the UHCC, $1M to transition those who lose Medicaid coverage to coverage on the WA Health Benefit Exchange, and supported funding for a study to determine the effect of credit history on health insurance premiums.
- 2024: We secured $490,000 in total funding for 3 studies to develop infrastructure and capacity, unify our healthcare system, and meet federal waiver requirements. And, five of our priority bills passed, thanks to the 871 Actions taken by our supporters! To learn more click here.
- 2023: We doubled the funding to speed up the work of the Universal Health Care Commission (UHCC) and supported increased funding for immigrant health care.
- 2022: The legislature passed eight of our top priority bills into law, including controlling the price of prescription drugs and increasing access to health care.
- 2021: We helped lay the groundwork for the Universal Health Care Commission. Governor Inslee appointed five of our six recommendations to the 15-member Commission.
- 2020: We successfully passed health care cost legislation into law, from reducing the costs of insulin to requiring greater transparency in health care costs.
- 2019: We were instrumental in securing funding for the Universal Health Care Work Group and the passage of the Cascade Care Bill.
We build relationships with legislators and voters across the state and aisle.
Be part of the organization that is moving our state toward a healthier and more equitable future with universal health care.
The Health Care for All-WA Education fund is a 501(c)(3) entity that assists in the educational activities of HCFA-WA. Click here to learn more.
