Blog
February UHCC Meeting: Rural health takes center stage
February 28, 2025
By Marcia Stedman, HCFA-WA Board member Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer pledges strong support for the Universal Health Care Commission and its work: “Healthcare is a human right and getting to Universal coverage is paramount. We at the OIC and myself personally are ready to...
Read MoreJanuary FTAC Meeting: What is a global budget?
February 07, 2025
As this week the FTAC was all about budget I thought it may be useful to have a short intro to global budgets. What is a global budget? Hospitals with global budgets get paid a set amount to treat a group of patients over...
Read MoreDecember UHCC meeting: A glimmer of light
December 20, 2024
In the bleak midwinter, glimmers of light at the December UHCC Meeting By Marcia Stedman In this season of darkness, FTAC member Bob Murray brought welcome light to the Commission’s December meeting. Bob was the executive director of Maryland’s hospital rate-setting system and gave...
Read MoreNovember FTAC Meeting: Costs and Cost Containment
November 29, 2024
The following is a summary of Peter Hallum’s presentation highlighting key points of the progress and methodology of the Milliman analysis. Please note a single payer model is not included in the analysis.
Read MoreOctober UHCC Meeting: Health Care in Washington: All about the money
November 01, 2024
By Marcia Stedman Haunted by the specter of looming budget shortfalls, the Universal Health Care Commission (UHCC) continues to delay the creation of the universal system that would achieve significant savings for the state and at the same time deliver comprehensive health care to...
Read MoreSeptember FTAC Meeting: Cost and cost-sharing analysis
September 26, 2024
by Consuelo Echeverria The Finance Technical Advisory Committee is recommending an actuarial analysis; however, the Milliman actuaries seem unsure of which data to use and need help defining what they are measuring, which comes as no surprise as there is no overarching vision or plan...
Read MoreAugust UHCC Meeting: When Will We Focus on Designing the Universal System? Is There a Timeline?
September 26, 2024
by Marcia Stedman Advocates and Commissioners alike asked this question at the August 2024 meeting. They are eager to move on to designing a healthcare system that would lower costs and increase access for all residents statewide, if only it were in place. Instead,...
Read MoreJuly FTAC Meeting: Cost sharing is not the way!
July 31, 2024
Finance Technical Advisory Committee recap: Why cost sharing is not the way to lower the cost of health care By Consuelo Echeverria Once again, the Finance Technical Advisory Committee is off track. Rather than choose a benefit design from the many models that already exist...
Read MoreJune UHCC Meeting: Administrative Simplification Round 3: Health Insurance Plans vs. the Rest of Us
June 27, 2024
At its June meeting, the Universal Health Care Commission again tackled the topic of Administrative Simplification, this time hearing from a panel of 3 providers and 1 insurance executive. The presentations reinforced what members of the public have been telling the Commission for years...
Read MoreMay FTAC Meeting: How does a health plan figure out the cost of its product?
May 31, 2024
by Consuelo Echeverria This month, the Finance Technical Advisory Committee (FTAC) dove into a consideration of how much it costs Washington state to deliver health care.
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