At their weekly press conference, state GOP leaders suggested Congress repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act could be an opportunity.
Rep. Matt Manweller, Ellensburg, responded to questions from reporters regarding whether a rollback of the ACA was cause for concern.
“You shouldn’t be afraid of change when the status quo is a disaster, right?” he said.
He pointed to steep premiums, high deductibles and a limited market as indicators that the health care system is a disaster.
He wasn’t specific about the ways in which Republicans could create a better system than the ACA. He nodded to block grants and also said:
“There’s a variety of ways to engage federalism in the health care system.”
Sen. Randi Becker, Eatonville, didn’t frame it as a concern, but she highlighted her support for Medicaid expansion under the ACA.
“As you know, I supported Medicaid expansion. And our caucus supported Medicaid expansion,” she said.
She also highlighted that about 1.9 million people in the state are covered through the state. Since 2013 about 590,000 new people are receiving health insurance through Medicaid under the expansion, according to the Washington State Health Care Authority.
Her ideal solution would include a path off of Medicaid for patients, she said.
“If I had my druthers on Medicaid, we would find a way to cover the people that need the coverage, but find a way to get them so their earning capacity capabilities take them off of Medicaid, and they can be a viable taxpayer and have pride with what they do in their lives,” Becker said. “I think that’s one thing we didn’t ever see in the current Medicaid population and what this expansion has done.”
She didn’t get much more specific than that. But even Congressional Republicans haven’t painted a full picture of what they want to accomplish with health care, or whether they can meet their cost-saving goals without booting millions of people off their insurance plans.
Erin Fenner: erin@washingtonstatewire.com, @erinfenner
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