Last week, there was the historic first hearing on the Medicare for All Act of 2019 in the House Rules Committee chaired by Representative McGovern. Watch Activist Ady Barkan's opening remarks. Ady is dying of ALS, and speaks with the aid of a computer-generated voice gave powerful testimony about the urgent need for Medicare for All. Emergency Room physician, Dr. Farzon Nahvi,  gave testimony about what it is like to practice medicine in an ER where patients are afraid they cannot bear the costs. There is also this short wrap-up video after the hearing. As a result of the hearing, the House Ways and Means has agreed to hold a second hearing. 

Also, the Congressional Budget Office has released a report on the design and policy considerations for the development of a single-payer health care system.

There were many improvements made to health care this legislative session for Washingtonians. Please check out the Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA) Legislative Wrap Up to learn more about other important bills for Washingtonians including drug pricing transparency, curbs on surprise billing, and the Cascade Care bill.

One major setback - cuts may be coming to Washington state Medicaid patients. "The Legislature assumed Medicaid "program integrity" savings of over $350,000,000 starting in January 2020 that seem to be unachievable without making program cuts of some kind. NoHLA, HCFA-WA and many other stakeholders have expressed great concern about this highly unrealistic assumption."