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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Senate Slows Down Health Care Reform

Associated Press

The Senate took a major step Wednesday to slow down the state’s landmark overhaul of the health care system, agreeing to delay adoption of basic medical benefits that all insurers would have to offer.

The measure goes to the House, where it or a similar bill is expected to pass easily.

The Senate bill would lift a statutory deadline by which the Legislature must act on a “uniform benefits plan” adopted last fall by the Health Care Services Commission, the agency charged with putting in place the state’s 1993 health care overhaul law.

The measure sent to the House would delay required action until the last day of the session. It would push back from July 1 to Dec. 31 the date by which insurers must offer a basic benefits package.

Without the measure, the benefits plan would become law 30 days after the Jan. 9 start of the legislative session.

The delay’s sponsor, Senate Health Committee Chairman Kevin Quigley, D-Lake Stevens, agrees with House Health Committee Chairman Phil Dyer, R-Issaquah, that the commission proposal needs to be slimmed down and, in any case, needs far more scrutiny than 30 days would allow.”We need a more deliberative process,” Quigley told the Senate before it voted unanimously for the delay.

After the unanimous vote, Quigley and Sen. John Moyer, R-Spokane, both rose to say they hope the unanimity will prevail as the Legislature repeals or rewrites much of the health care act. The law’s goal is to see that all Washington residents have access to affordable health care insurance by mid-1999.