Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (Photo: Inslee)
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee rocked the U.S. health finance policy world Monday by signing Senate Bill 5526 — a bill that could create a new, government-run, "public option" health plan program.
Reports about the birth of the new "Cascade Care" public option program made headlines throughout the country.
But states have often started, then stopped, efforts to create ambitious new health finance programs, after fierce stakeholder opposition erupted, or the architects themselves concluded that the programs would cost too much, or be too hard to pay for.
A Democratic governor in Vermont, for example, gave up on an effort to start a state-run single-payer health care program there in 2014.
And a close look at the text of the new Cascade Care law suggests that the Cascade Care plans could be more like a standardized, state-blessed version of the plans units of Centene Corp. and Molina Healthcare Inc. already offer through many Affordable Care Act exchange plan programs than like a Medicare for All-style single-payer health care program.
Here's a look at five other things agents and brokers might want to know about the Cascade Care text.
1. The new law would create a new set of standardized individual major medical plans that would be sold by all Washington state exchange plan issuers.
Managers of Washington's state-run ACA exchange program, the Washington Healthplanfinder program, would have to come up with at least one "standardized health plan" design, and as many as three standardized health plan designs, that would be available with bronze, silver and gold benefits levels.
Starting Jan. 1, 2021, each health insurer that sold any coverage through the Washington Healthplanfinder exchange would have to offer at least one silver standardized health plan through the exchange, and at least one gold standardized health plan.
An insurer could still sell nonstandardized health plans through the exchange.
Insurers already sell standardized health insurance policies through the Medicare supplement insurance program, and the Washington state standardized plan provision is similar to a program federal ACA exchange system regulators were developing while former President Barack Obama was in office.
2. The Washington State Health Care Authority would have to work with one or more carriers to provide at least one bronze, silver and gold exchange plan in each county in the state, starting with the 2021 plan year.
The goal of this provision would be to make sure that every county in the state offers residents a choice of ACA exchange plans, according to the bill text.
The state health care authority would buy the coverage from private carriers. The text says nothing about whether the carriers would work with agents or brokers, let alone pay sales commissions, but private companies would provide the coverage.
