Walsh introduces Washington Patient Choice Restoration Act
Legislative proposal seeks to help increase healthcare coverage options for rural residents.
Today in
"This bill is good for
The Washington Health Benefit Exchange was intended to increase the availability of healthcare coverage through the private health insurance market. However, a number of factors including poor-health rankings in some regions, heavy financial losses by insurance carriers, and the uncertainty of the future of the exchange, have led many insurers to withdraw from offering coverage in rural counties. The result has been a significant decrease in carrier participation, leaving many rural county residents with few, if any, options for health insurance coverage.
Walsh's bill would help to increase consumer choices. Under the proposal, state market rules would no longer require insurers who offer "bronze" plans outside of the exchange to also offer "silver" and "gold" plans. These same state-only mandates would also be reformed to allow greater flexibility in the sale of catastrophic plans. These requirements would only be exempt if they did not violate federal law.
"This change increases access to health insurance coverage instead of decreasing it - especially in rural counties," continued Walsh.
Under current law, health insurers must file their plans with the
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