Gov. Jay Inslee's Cascade Care proposal aims to create a functional health care marketplace in

Gov. Jay Inslee's Cascade Care proposal aims to create a functional health care marketplace in Washington while the nation's system struggles


With his eye on a potential presidential campaign, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee already has made plenty of national headlines in 2019. Since the New Year, Inslee has announced he'll be pardoning thousands of marijuana convictions. He's proposed remaking the state's financial aid system, aiming to make college effectively free for low-income students.

But maybe his most dramatic proposal came last month, when Inslee proposed a health care innovation he's calling "Cascade Care" — reminiscent of the "public option" proposals that were cut from Obamacare in 2010, back when Inslee was still in Congress.

Inslee's "Cascade Care" public option plan, however, wouldn't create a state-run insurance agency. Nor would it expand Medicaid. Instead, it would make the Inslee administration an insurance negotiator, tasking it with picking at least one insurer to offer Obamacare exchange coverage in every county. By wielding its powerful bargaining power, the argument goes, the state government could drive down prices, cap reimbursement rates and expand access in the individual market.

Yet even with the strongest Democratic majority in Washington state since 2010, it's a tough sell: Lobbyists for the powerful medical and insurance industries are wary.

Read more: https://www.inlander.com/spokane/gov-jay-inslees-cascade-care-proposal-aims-to-create-a-functional-health-care-marketplace-in-washington-while-the-nations-system-struggles/Content?oid=16343164