As federal Medicaid cuts loom, consumer advocates are celebrating Washington\u2019s new bill limiting hospital prices for state and\u00a0public school\u00a0employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 5083<\/a>\u00a0caps reimbursement rates for\u00a0nearly\u00a0700,000\u00a0people\u00a0covered by the Public Employees Benefits Board\u00a0(PEBB)\u00a0and School Employees Benefits Board\u00a0(SEBB).\u00a0<\/p>\n Sam\u00a0Hatzenbeler, legislative director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, said public and school employees pay more than twice what the federal government said is a fair price for Medicare, with some hospitals charging up to four times more.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt\u00a0a time\u00a0when everyone is going to be asked to tighten their belts due to federal cuts,\u00a0it’s\u00a0more important than ever to be prudent with our health care resources,\u201d\u00a0Hatzenbeler\u00a0contended.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thousands in the Mid-Columbia receive health insurance via PEBB and SEBB as state workers and those working in schools, along with their spouses and dependents.<\/p>\n A similar law passed in Oregon in 2019, which saved the state more than\u00a0$100 million<\/a>\u00a0and cut out-of-pocket costs for patients by\u00a0nearly 10%.\u00a0 \u201cThe state is touting this proposal as reducing health care costs, but it does nothing to lower the cost of providing hospital services,\u201d said Cassie Sauer, president and CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association, in a statement when state lawmakers were considering the caps. \u201cIn reality, SB 5083 shifts the burden of covering costs from the state to hospitals and commercially insured people, or it will mean hospitals will cut services for everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Adam Zarrin, director of state government affairs for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, said large hospitals\u00a0consolidating<\/a>\u00a0through buying up their competitors is one of the reasons health care costs have grown out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStates can and should take action to try to increase competition in this health care space,\u201d\u00a0Zarrin argued.\u00a0\u201cBecause we know that those market factors can help drive and keep costs down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Washington hospitals pushed hard against the bill, warning it will add pressure to their already\u00a0stretched budgets<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n