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 shrecap 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.

Changing public comment process(-2:33:22): A public request to change the process of public comments collection was discussed. The change would be to move from presenting bundled comments two weeks prior to the UHCC meeting, to delivering the comments to a common folder as they come in on a rolling basis. This would facilitate comments being available to workgroups that meet between the UHCC meetings. The Commission decided to move forward with this change.

Work Plan Updates (-2:02:30): Mary Franzen presented updates on the Commission's work plan, highlighting progress on key design elements. She also introduced a new "what we're working on" webpage  to keep the public informed about progress. Check the link for further details! >> Mary invited feedback on the page.

FTAC Update (-1:59:20): 

Progress on Provider Reimbursement Principles

FTAC liaison Pam McEwen presented 10 draft guiding principles centered on a transitional, stepwise path to universal care rather than an abrupt overhaul. The group continues to work toward consensus on the principles and provider reimbursement strategies. Check our summary of the January FTAC Meeting for further details.

A full design proposal is expected at the April commission meeting.

State Agency Report Outs highlight our state’s health care crisis

Joan Altman(HBE) [-2:21:58] 

• 300,000 people enrolled in qualified health plans for 2026 
• higher-than-usual cancellation rates due to the loss of enhanced federal premium subsidies. 
• About half of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) customers lost coverage after losing federal subsidies. 

Jane Beyer (OIC) [-2:16:11] highlighted active bills: 

• House Bill 2242, preserving access to preventive services, passed the House 
• Four controversial revenue bills under consideration to fund behavioral health, abortion access, and Cascade Care subsidies. 

Dr. Tau Kwan-Gett (DOH)[-2:09:42] underscored that healthcare access requires culturally and linguistically appropriate services — not just coverage.

Noted active bills moving through legislature: HBE access/affordability, preventive services access, regulating corporate practice of medicine, regulating merger and acquisitions, and various revenue bills under consideration.

OIC Proviso Funding [-1:16:07] 

Jen Scott facilitated discussion of the OIC proviso, regarding how to deploy $250,000 for financial analysis, with a hard deadline of June 30, 2027. 

Discussion: 

• Estimating savings from 
  • administrative simplification
  • removing risk-based contracting
• Estimating member costs, e.g. market segments for comparison, and identifying work already done eg report from Cost Transparency Board, to expand on 
• Next steps 
  • a joint FTAC/Commission presentation to inform further financial analysis needs.
  • Develop contracting process for consulting financial analyst

Enrollment, Infrastructure, and Governance: Q & A with the CEO of Oregon’s UHC Governance Board: [-49:30] 

Ross Valore, Director of Boards and Commissions for Washington’s  Health Care Authority and Dr. Mimi McDonald, Executive Director of Oregon's Universal Health Plan Governance Board, led the discussion. Dr. McDonald shared valuable insights from Oregon's  experience.

• define eligibility before designing the enrollment system. 
• enrollment as a multi-layered process 
• Some open questions:
  •  “take out the middleman?”-use of risk-bearing insurance carriers or direct provider payment (Oregon’s structure). 
  • “Can we just flip a switch?” -incremental vs immediate transition from carriers to direct payment. (Oregon uses direct payment)
  • central versus regional administrative structure.
  • type of governance entity: independent public corporation (Oregon model) or state agency*
  • accountability, eg to governor, legislature

Next Steps

The commission agreed to form an enrollment work group after the legislative session concludes and noted Oregon's current go-live target of 2032 as a reference benchmark.

>>HCFA-WA will be considering opportunities to participate in future workgroups forming on enrollment, infrastructure and governance. 

Link to Video
Meeting Materials Here 

Next Meetings:

UHCC: Thurs., April 30, 2026, 2-5 pm - Details available here closer to the date.

Comment to the UHCC

• Speak during the designated public comment time at UHCC meetings. Sign up to provide public comment by 5 p.m. the day before the meeting occurs. 
• Email [email protected] at any time.  If you submit your comments less than two weeks before a meeting, they will be included in the following meeting’s materials.

We urge our members to push for a single payer plan in their public comments.

• Read our take on past UHCC and FTAC meetings
• Subscribe to Health Care Authority (HCA) for updates

Now Available, the Universal Health Care Commission 2025 Annual Report

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THE UHCC? 

Currently, there  are two open seats on the Commission, subject to appointment by the Governor. Candidates should have knowledge and experience regarding health care coverage, access, and financing, or other relevant expertise. Apply to Serve here

Note: AI was used to assist in summarizing a transcript and notes from the meeting. All AI-generated incorporated material was reviewed and corrected for accuracy and thoroughness.