Seattle's health care numbers | Health-Care

 

While the discussion was going on, everybody had breakfast in a chair. Photo credit: Nitya

Axios presented an Expert Voices roundtable conversation in Seattle, Washington on Wednesday, October 12, with local healthcare executives, lawmakers, and medical professionals. Visitors shared their opinions on removing obstacles to receiving health care and suggested ways to overcome equity disparities. Adriel Bettelheim, the senior health editor at Axios, took the helm during the discussion.

The COVID-19 public health emergency is about to end.

Officials from the state of Washington spoke about planning for the conclusion of the pandemic-era public health emergency and making sure Washington residents may continue to be insured and receive health coverage after it ended.

Director of the Washington State Health Care Authority Sue Birch addressing the audience. Photo credit: Nitya

• Representative Nicole Macri of Washington State: "The Cascade Care Program, known as the first public option in the country in our individual market, is something we have been working on over the last few years. Cascade Care has been improved throughout the course of the previous two parliamentary sessions, and one of the goals we have been working toward is truly deepening the federal government's subsidies. We were quite concerned that the federal government's expanded public subsidies for people buying insurance on the individual market would expire when the public health emergency ended, so we were ecstatic when the Inflation Reduction Act passed and was signed into law and prolonged them.

• Regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Ingrid Ulrey: To make sure that we don't lose people through the region termination process and that we make sure that people who are still eligible for Medicaid remain on Medicaid, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, has issued detailed guidance and is closely collaborating with state officials in preparation for this extension. Congress's decision to renew those subsidies is crucial since it will be the main measure used to lessen the loss of coverage at this crucial juncture.
• Sue Birch, executive director of the Washington State Health Care Authority: We know that 3 to 400,000 people will be inconvenienced because of the PHE unwind because there have been numerous meetings to discuss the topic. This is a greater hit than when the ACA first began. Since Washington is a state where we want more people covered, we've had to upgrade call centers, technological system operations, and communications. We also want to be one of the first states to continue to boast about having the highest coverage penetration. We can never, ever let up on coverage and access.

relating to collaborations that take into account the social determinants of health and particular community needs

Participants stressed the value of collaborations between local health jurisdictions, community-based groups, and governments that center on health access and equity.

• Zyna Bakari, manager of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle's public health program: "What I'm attempting to emphasize here is the significance of helping community-based groups develop the capacity to launch health navigation programs... Because our navigators spend every day at encampments assisting those suffering homelessness in obtaining the resources they require, we [our navigators] are able to meet many people where they are.

• Mark Mitschke, chief executive officer of Delta Dental Washington: "I think the Access to Baby and Child Dentistry program is a very fantastic example of the cooperation that we've had success with in Washington State. The ABCD program, which has been around for about 20 years, is really a partnership between Arcora, Delta Dental of Washington, the Health Care Authority, neighborhood community dentists, and communities all over the state. Over the course of 15 years, it has increased Medicaid children's access to dental care in our state by about 50%.

• Susan Skillman, senior deputy director, University of Washington Center for Health Workforce Studies: When considering the workforce, it's crucial to realize that people's access to healthcare and the workforce that delivers it is heavily reliant on their insurance and coverage... What kind of insurance someone has will impact whether there is any care coordination to help them get to a referral whether they go to a primary care clinic and are diagnosed or acknowledged to have a behavioral health condition.

• VillageReach's president, Emily Bancroft: "I believe that one of the difficulties we've encountered working with local health jurisdictions is the disconnect sometimes between how to use them to reach those who are the most underserved, really getting into the communities, and doing more linkage with community service organizations to ensure that we're making these connections between what's happening on a policy level, and this inflection point, and then what the local health jurisdictions could do,"