WA Democrats drop push for business tax to cover Medicaid costs
OLYMPIA [Jake Goldstein-Street]—Washington state Democrats are likely abandoning plans for a new tax on employers like Walmart and Amazon, whose workers get health coverage through Medicaid. The proposal came amid recent federal cuts to the program, which provides insurance for low-income Americans. The Senate’s budget committee was set to vote on advancing the legislation last […]
Budget bills in WA Legislature would tap rainy day fund, spend heavily on legal payouts
OLYMPIA [Jake Goldstein-Street and Bill Lucia] —Democrats in the Washington Legislature on Sunday proposed tapping the state’s rainy day savings account and slashing hundreds of millions of dollars for a child care program for low-income families to balance the state’s budget into next year. But under their plans, the state’s main operating account would have a more […]
Brown co-leads lawsuit against HHS over gender-affirming restrictions for minors
SEATTLE—Attorney General Nick Brown is co-leading a federal lawsuit with Oregon and New York of 20 states and the District of Columbia challenging a declaration by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. that deems certain gender-affirming care for minors unsafe and ineffective, threatening to bar providers from participating […]
Hospitals performing gender-affirming care on children to lose Medicare and Medicaid funding
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced it will terminate Medicare and Medicaid to any hospital that performs sex-rejecting procedures on minors, taking action to remove gender dysphoria as a disability, and sending “warning letters” to breast binder manufacturers. HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced a series of […]
Cantwell meets with local healthcare providers to discuss the impacts of Medicaid cuts
SEATTLE—Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) met with local healthcare professionals Tuesday, March 18, to discuss the potential impacts President Donald J Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts could have on the public’s access to critical medical services. On February 25, House Republicans voted in favor of Trump’s budget resolution which proposes to cut up to $880 billion from […]
