Spring is just around the corner! From your friends at HCFA-WA, we want to be sure that we are keeping you up to date on the Washington Legislature Short Session. We thank you for your ongoing support in this rapidly changing landscape as we continue to build the foundation of a Universal Healthcare System in the state of Washington!

In this issue:

• February 2nd Wednesday Speaker Series (2WSS) Recap
• March 2WSS Standing with our Somali Neighbors - SAVE THE DATE -  March 25th 
• February 2026 Universal Health Care Commission (UHCC) Summary 
• Take  Action for Health Care Now!
• News You Can Use
• March Events

Our next Wednesday Speaker Series will take place on March 25th.

SAVE THE DATE.

Health Care for All-WA’s (March) 2nd Wednesday Speaker Series, "Standing with our Somali Neighbors" is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th. This presentation will take place after Ramadan ends. These community leaders will share their stories to show their impact on the Somali community, as well as the role model for other groups in our state. We are developing this presentation with our allies at Physicians for a National Health Program - Washington Chapter.

Ramadan Kareem! May this month of Ramadan bring health, peace, and joy to everyone!

So please SAVE THE DATE, and join us for "Standing with our Somali Neighbors", Wednesday, March 25th, at 7pm on Zoom.

Meet the people behind Healthcare for All Washington and see how their stories power the push for universal care in this dynamic Second Wednesday session.

You get to meet advocates from across Washington and Oregon as they introduce themselves, share why they care about healthcare justice, and connect personal experiences with denials, illness, disability, and global comparisons that emphasize the need for universal coverage. This is a rare chance to put faces and voices to the HCFA‑WA community, and to see how everyday experiences turn into determined, long‑term advocacy.

You’ll also get a clear, plain‑language overview of HCFA‑WA’s pathway to universal healthcare, including how earlier efforts like the Washington Health Security Trust have evolved into today’s step‑by‑step strategy centered on “everybody in, nobody out.” You’ll hear how federal waivers, state structural reforms, and cost and equity safeguards fit together, and why the Universal Health Care Commission and related boards are so central to real change.

The heart of the session is a mid‑session legislative update that walks you through what’s really at stake in a fiscally tight year: defending funding for the Universal Health Care Commission and auto‑enrollment, and advancing key revenue and policy bills that move Washington closer to universal care. You’ll get concise explanations of bills on revenue, immigrant worker protections, medical loss ratios, healthcare mergers, corporate practice of medicine, preventive services, and 340B drug pricing, along with guidance on when and how they can move.

You’ll also see how you can “vote every day” during the legislative session using the Take Action Network, hear thoughtful Q&A on strategy and coordination, and discover concrete ways to volunteer or support this work financially. If you want to understand both the people and the policy behind universal healthcare in Washington, watch this video for your next step.

February 2026 UHCC Recap: Details, Details, Details
by Elaine Cox

The February 12, 2026 UHCC meeting, headed by Chair Vicki Lowe, delved into details of ways to use the OIC proviso funding, and the Enrollment, Infrastructure and Governance elements of the Commission’s Universal System Design. 

Key Meeting takeaways:

1. Public Comments once again highlight urgent need for universal health care, and the role that UHCC can play in expediting progress.
2. State Agency Report Outs highlight our state’s health care crisis
3. Work Groups will be formed to expedite the design of the universal health care system’s Finance, Enrollment, Infrastructure and Governance elements.

The following recap provides time stamps in brackets, corresponding to that section from the video recording. The time refers to the time from the END of the recording.

Public Comments: [-2:51:26] Urgency and Legislative Advocacy Needed from UHCC

The Commission received 17 written and 8 live public comments. Health Care for All-Washington, Health Care is a Human Right, and Whole Washington were represented, as well as several private individuals.

Urgency was emphasized, for the Commission to assert and advance its mission and workplan, particularly to legislators. Personal stories were offered about single-payer universal healthcare being essential to addressing their healthcare affordability, coordination and navigation struggles. 

Written comments can be found in the Meeting Materials.

Live comments:

The need to preserve coverage and reduce financial burdens of health care was stressed as urgent.

UHCC members were urged to bring and promote bills to legislators.

FTAC should call for the OIC proviso for financial analysis to estimate and compare what individuals pay for health coverage currently vs proposed state-based single payer models. 

The current Democratic trifecta creates a rare political window for reform, with this moment being a “critical mass” for UHC. 

Federal cuts accelerate the collapse of current coverage, with loss of enrollment, doubling premiums, foregoing care and contributing to medical bankruptcies. 

Seamless enrollment and ease of navigability is crucial for people with special health care needs. One commenter described managing her chronic health condition in the current disjointed system as an "unfortunate side hustle." 

Urging the commission to go on offense toward universal care rather than play "whack-a-mole" with mounting crises

• urging the commission to advocate for a legislative work session for learning about the Washington Health Trust to use as a model.
• Meet or beat the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Universal Health Care by 2030, being monitored by the World Health Organization.

Read the rest of the recap here for changes to the public comment process, report outs, proviso funding and discussion of Enrollment, Infrastructure and Governance, and next steps for the Commission and FTAC.

Action Item #1

With only two weeks left in the 2026 Legislative Session, your continued action is needed on this important bill

HB 2073: Addressing funding for health insurance premium assistance

This bill is on the House Floor Calendar, but it needs support from voters like you to be scheduled for a vote of the full House. 

What it does: Requires insurance carriers to pay 10 percent of their excessive surplus to the OIC for deposit into the State Health Care Affordability Account for the Cascade Care Savings Program.  “Excessive” surplus is defined as the amount of a nonprofit health carrier's surplus that is 100 times the minimum net worth requirements as reported on the carrier's annual statement for calendar year 2025.

Action: Contact your Representatives and urge them to vote YES when the vote is scheduled on the House Floor. 

Suggested Script:

“Please vote YES on HB 2073.

Health insurance rates have become unaffordable for many Washingtonians. This bill would make insurance premiums more affordable for Cascade Care enrollees.”

Action Item #2: Join the Take Action Network — Make Your Voice Matter in WA LEG 2026 and beyond!

We invite you to join the Take Action Network (TAN), a powerful platform making it easy for Washington State voters to create real change. Whether you care about healthcare reform or other critical issues, TAN puts the tools directly in your hands to influence legislative action.

Why It Works

Dedicated volunteers analyze important legislation and track bills through the legislative process. When action is needed, you receive a simple email alert with everything ready to go—no confusion, just click and make a difference: right as a bill is introduced and as it is being voted on in the committee and on the floor of the House or Senate.  You will know the action required as your legislators make their decisions.  

Healthcare Advocacy 

Other organizations, in addition to Health Care for All-Washington, use TAN to their critical legislation. In 2025 alone, HCFA-WA supporters sent over 3,000 messages through TAN during the session, resulting in six HCFA-WA priority bills becoming law, including protections against medical debt affecting credit scores and $514,000 secured for the Universal Health Care Commission.

What You'll Gain

Up-to-date information about bills that affect universal health care and other causes you care about. You will also have ready-to-use scripts for contacting your Washington legislators. In addition, you get invitations to participate in local meetings and community events. Join thousands of activists making Washington legislators more responsive to the people.

Join TAN from the Health Care For All Washington link 

Together, we can move Washington forward on the pathway to universal health care.

Why U.S. healthcare is still the most expensive in the world

We cannot lower insurance premiums without addressing underlying costs of healthcare in the US. Despite decades of cost-cutting initiatives, U.S. healthcare prices keep climbing. What hidden forces are blocking real reform—and why aren't patients benefiting?

Physician patient advocacy: Fighting insurance denials effectively

Your Doctor can fight for you! This article recounts how persistent advocacy—writing to insurers, regulators, lawmakers, and even the media—helped win coverage for a patient’s denied medical device, illustrating the real impact clinicians can have when they challenge insurance denials on behalf of patients. The article argues that such advocacy is essential because insurance companies often deny care to cut costs, and that broader system reforms are needed to focus more on patient health than insurers’ bottom lines.

Time For State-Based Single Payer: The New York Health Act

New York’s single payer plan, the New York Health Act,  demonstrates how savings from efficiency gains could fill the gaps from lost federal funding.

HCFA-WA Officer and Board Member has Letter to Editor Published

Seattle Times publishes letter to the editor by John Sobeck, MD, MBA, HCFA-WA Vice President

Re: “The problem with that ‘Great Healthcare Plan’ ” (Jan. 28, Opinion):

Columnist Lisa Jarvis rightly highlights the core flaw in replacing Affordable Care Act subsidies with Health Savings Accounts: HSAs work tolerably well for the healthy and affluent, and fail precisely when people need care the most. Health care is not a predictable consumer good. No one can “shop” their way out of cancer, trauma or a complicated pregnancy.

Washington state offers a more serious alternative. For years, Health Care for All – Washington has advanced a single-payer model that replaces fragmented insurance with universal, comprehensive coverage. The goal is straightforward: everyone covered, and costs controlled through global budgets and negotiated rates — rather than financial triage by households.

President Donald Trump’s proposal is not really about HSAs versus subsidies; it is about whether we continue to tolerate a system that rations care by income and luck. Evidence is clear that consumer-directed accounts exacerbate inequity and underinsurance. Universal systems, by contrast, spread risk broadly and lower administrative waste.

If federal leaders are unwilling to protect affordable coverage, states like Washington should continue leading. Health Care for All – Washington’s single-payer work shows that there is a viable, fiscally responsible path forward — one that treats health care as infrastructure, not a gamble.

John Sobeck, M.D., MBA, vice president, Health Care for All – Washington