Financial Crisis Creates Long Waiting List For Subsidized Health Insurance

Designed to make insurance affordable for those in need, the Washington State Basic Health Plan is an immense help as far as it goes.

But it doesn’t go nearly far enough, the Washington State Health Care Authority reports.

Tens of thousands unable to secure coverage without a financial assist are being turned away or placed on a waiting list. Subsidized coverage has been capped at 130,000 persons.

At last report, the waiting list contained well over 70,000 names. “But about 5,000 new names are being added to the list every week,” spokeswoman Kayleen Dunson told me.

“Those at the front of the list, where they have been since early November, are starting to get coverage now,” said the authority’s director of communications. “We offered coverage to about 15,600 individuals just recently, and they will get covered in February or March.

“We are getting further and further behind,” said Dunson. “It is fair to say that those seeking help now will have to wait about six months.

“Pretty incredible - huh?”

What’s the reason for the holdup?

“Money,” says Dunson. “We had to cap the subsidized portion of the program at 130,000 because we don’t have the money.”

What needs to be done?

“What we would like to see happen is for lawmakers to appropriate money to fund at least 200,00 subsidized people. We submitted a request for a budget increase.

“It would take a total of $161.5 million more for the 1997-1999 biennium. We feel we can satisfy most of the demand at that level.”

Depending on family size and income, subsidized coverage can be secured for as little as $10 per month. Others who can afford it pay substantially more, but less than open market rates.

“Demand for subsidized coverage is growing much faster than anybody could have foreseen,” said Dunson.

“At the same time, the employer-sponsored portion of the program is growing much, much slower than expected. The legislature assumed we could get 100,000 in the employer program by July of this year.

“But instead of 100,000 we have only about 1,600 signed up through their employers. Of that number, about half are subsidized, and half are not.”

AWB opposes plan to split tax rolls

Under the Washington State Constitution, residential and commercial properties are treated the same for tax purposes.

But several proposals being mulled by state lawmakers could split the roll, notes the Association of Business lobby. “After a split roll was implemented in Minnesota, the commercial property tax burden quadrupled,” reports AWB tax and fiscal policy director Tom Dooley. “We can’t let that happen here.”

Insurance settlement sparks response

An estimated 100,000 Washington policyholders who may be eligible for restitution from Prudential Insurance Co. of America have begun filing claims, State Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn reports.

A settlement was reached following a multistate investigation into claims of misrepresentation and misleading sales tactics involved in the sale of life insurance, the commission said.

A toll-free hotline staffed by knowledgable operators has been set up in Olympia to help policyholders go about filing claims. The number to call is 1-800-627-7938.

Response has been brisk. “Last week we got a couple hundred calls a day,” says departmental spokesman Jim Stevenson. “It has tapered off some this week.

“You don’t have to build a big legal case and line up 20 witnesses in order to file” Stevenson told me. If you feel you were wronged and the policy didn’t live up to expectations, you probably should file for remediation.

GTE Wireless opens local office

GTE Wireless has opened a Spokane office to help launch a “next generation” personal communications services (PCS network here by mid-year.

The Spokane unit will hire up to 25 employees, the telecommunications giant said.

Doug Robinson has been named market manager to oversee the local operations. He has extensive experience as a wireless market manager in the Midwest.

The new Spokane service “will take wireless communications to a new level by integrating digital wireless service with voice mail, paging and caller I.D., all in one hand-held phone,” GTE said. “It will operate on a newly constructed digital network to provide greater sound clarity, virtually static-free sound, enhanced call privacy and security, and longer talk-time and battery life.”

Spokane is one of the first cities in the nation to receive PCS technology.

High-tech workers enjoy high wages

A new study shows that workers in Washington’s electronics, computer, software, and telecommunications industries earn an average annual salary of $57,555.

That makes them the highest-paid high-tech workers in the country, the American Electronics Association reports.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes a notes column each Wednesday. If you have business items of regional interest for future columns, call 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review