Health care has seen a lot of action this session. This is not a big surprise, of course. Pandemic times make for busy health care committees.  

 Washington State Wire reports that no other issue has seen as much floor action. “Between both chambers, 55 bills currently sit in health care committees after passing their house of origin before the cutoff.” 

 As expected, there is good, bad and ugly in what remains.  

I already highlighted one of COVID-19’s very few silver linings: An increased awareness of opportunities that telemedicine can provide — if we let it. One bill that seems to be on its way to allowing patients to take advantage of the health-care access and ease that existing technology can bring is SSB 5423. 

The bill would “allow a licensed out-of-state practitioner to consult through telemedicine with a practitioner licensed in Washington State regarding the diagnosis or treatment of a patient within Washington State.”

Senseless regulation that limits access to patient-centered health care is hazardous to our health. The bill looks like it will become law, having already passed the state House. 

Another bill, ESHB 1196, is moving along without a fight. It would expand telemedicine reimbursement to include audio-only telemedicine, that is, patients talking to doctors by phone. Regulation cuts that were temporarily adopted included this allowance, and it makes sense to cut this regulation permanently. Requiring telemedicine reimbursement helps people living in rural areas, people with limited transportation and people who would rather simply talk to a doctor by phone than by a complex online service. Quality care can come in many forms, and policymakers should trust patients and doctors to choose what is best in their own situations.   

What about the bad bills? A few prescription-drug related bills proposed this session would impose price controls or reduce competition that could get in the way of patients’ ability to get access to the life-saving or life-enhancing medicines they need. ESSB 5203 remains one to watch as it now travels in the House after passing the Senate. It would allow Health Care Authority regulators “to enter into partnerships with other states, state agencies, or nonprofit entities to produce, distribute, or purchase generic prescription drugs and purchase and distribute insulin,” a bill report says. 

Bills that would control prices or decrease competition and innovation seem well-intended and concerned with high drug prices. The worry is that they attempt a cure worse than the disease. Drug makers should face more, not less, competition, and patients should be allowed greater, not fewer, options.  

Another bad bill is the governor’s proposal to impose a new tax of $3.25 on every insured person every month. This “covered lives assessment” would be a hidden tax and is expected to make premiums even more expensive for insured Washingtonians. While the bill did not pass before its committee deadline, we’re watching to see if it pops up again somewhere before session’s end.   

SB 5339, now E2SSB 5399, is pointless and misguided. It would create yet another universal health care commission that again tries to ban private health care and impose socialized medicine on Washingtonians. It seems on its way to passage.

I have no doubt this umpteenth attempt would not be a charm. That isn’t even the fault of all the health-care commissions that have come before. Universal health care has not proven able to deliver low costs. It has delivered lower-quality care and service rationing in places that have adopted it, however.  Read more about this proposed legislation here. 

Instead of another useless state commission to study a harsh socialist system with unmet promises that many people don’t want, lawmakers should work to liberate doctors, hospitals and patients to provide low-cost access to better-quality care.  The best way to do that is to cut regulations permanently (not just during a crisis), lower insurance premium taxes, and give patients more control and choice in how they access care.

E2SSB 5399  is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 10 a.m. on March 18.