January 13, 2008 in City

Kreidler pushing insurance reform

• Print
• Email
• Share

OLYMPIA – Hoping to speed up the pace of health care reform, the state insurance commissioner has stepped from the bureaucratic supporting cast with a big idea: take over the market for “catastrophic” insurance, guaranteeing Washingtonians have coverage in a health crisis.

Mike Kreidler, running this fall for a third term as the state’s top insurance regulator, knows the plan could be a hard sell – even to fellow Democrats in the Legislature and the governor’s office.

But Kreidler said Friday his plan gives Washington a chance to take a leading national role in rethinking how Americans pay for medical care.

He also criticized the Democratic Legislature’s previous work on the health care system, saying it has focused too much on small projects that simply do not get to the heart of the problem.

“That kind of incrementalism will only get you so far. And this is where you have an opportunity to profoundly impact the health insurance system across the board,” Kreidler said. “No other state’s done this. This is dramatic change. It’s one that I personally believe will work.”

Kreidler has been laying out his argument for the statewide catastrophic insurance program in recent weeks through speeches and interviews around the state. The former optometrist, veteran state legislator and one-term congressman said he’s faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum and expects more.

Some details are still not certain – Kreidler dodged questions about the cost of his program – but it would provide all Washington residents with “catastrophic” health care coverage that kicks in once medical costs exceed $10,000 in a given year. The plan also covers some preventive care.

Workers and employers would pay for the program with a new state employment tax, probably 1 percent of gross pay for employees and a sliding scale of 2 percent to 5 percent for businesses, depending on their size.

The tax program also would ensure that people without insurance would pay their fair share for coverage, instead of pushing those costs on the system, Kreidler said.

The chairwoman of the state Senate’s health care committee, Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, said Friday that Kreidler’s bill would be a featured part of an expansive Senate Democratic agenda for health care reform.

But Don Brunell, president of the Association of Washington Business, said huge plans for overhauling the system are too hasty. He also said plans like Kreidler’s blow past Gov. Chris Gregoire’s health policy approach, which Brunell described as “a very methodical, deliberate process to go through and figure out what will work and what won’t.”

“We think it’s premature to come to any conclusion such as the insurance commissioner has come to in terms of universal health care provided by government,” Brunell said. “We have a basic philosophical difference with the guy.”

No comments on this story so far. Add yours!