What do State Representatives Schmick, Hinkle, Bailey, McCune, Warnick, Short, Haler, Taylor, Kristiansen, Angel, Johnson, Condotta, and Klippert have in common? They all received the maximum allowable campaign donation from at least one insurance industry donor, and they are all sponsors of HB 1361, titled, “Eliminating mandated health care benefits under state law.”

Over the years, Washington state has adopted legal protections for minimum coverage from any health care plan offered in the state. HB 1361 says that all of those protections go away, and are replaced by the federal minimum standards, so health care in Washington can be brought down to the level of the worst other states in the nation.

Seven of these representatives sponsored HB 1868 in 2009, designed to exempt the insurance industry from complying with the legal mandates, but that bill didn’t make it very far. Maybe they figured if they couldn’t exempt their donors from complying with the law, it’s just simpler to get rid of the legal mandates. Of course, the best way for insurance companies to make money is to charge high rates, and never actually have to pay out. I’m sure if this bill were to pass, their increased profits would make their campaign donations well worth the price.

The good news is that, at least on paper, all of these Representatives work for the people of Washington. Perhaps it’s time to give them a call, tell them to oppose HB 1361, and remind them who they work for, in case they’d forgotten.

Tom Riggs

Camano Island