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Universal Health Care Work Group

In 2019, the Washington State Legislature directed Health Care Authority (HCA) to convene a work group study. The purpose of the study is to provide recommendations to the Legislature on how to create, implement, maintain, and fund a universal health care system.

View our report update to the Legislature and provide public comment.
Read our preliminary report, submitted to the Legislature in November 2019.

Learn more about the Universal Health Care Work Group!

Receive our announcements

Members

Universal Health Care Work Group members were selected to serve based on their experiences, perspectives, and role in health care. Learn more about the members by viewing the roster.

Charter

Review the charter to learn about the work group, the charge of the work group and their roles and responsibilities, meeting guidelines, and more.

Meetings and materials

Work group meetings are public meetings, with an opportunity for public comment at the end of each meeting. Public comments are an integral part of our work, so we encourage people to attend and share their input.

Date	Time	Location/registration	Materials
Wednesday, September 16, 2020	1-4 p.m.	The meeting will be held virtually on Zoom. There are two ways to participate: If you just want to observe, you can watch the meeting live on TVW. If you wish to provide public comment, register for the meeting and select: I am a member of the public observing the meeting. Yes, I wish to provide public comment.	Agenda (09/16/2020) Watch the video: Preparing for the September 16 meeting This video provides work group members information on implementation feasibility issues Review the slide deck (09/16/2020) View a RAND report: A Comprehensive Assessment of Four Options for Financing Health Care Delivery in Oregon
Wednesday, October 7, 2020	1-4 p.m.	Meeting will be held virtually on Zoom
Thursday, October 29, 2020	1-4 p.m.	Meeting will be held virtually on Zoom
Wednesday, December 9, 2020	1-4 p.m.	Meeting will be held virtually on Zoom

Past meetings

2020

Date	Time	Location	Materials	Additional information
Tuesday, August 25, 2020	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (08/25/2020) Watch the video: Preparing for the August 25 meeting This video provides information and materials to help work group members prepare for the meeting Review the slide deck (08/25/2020) Provider reimbursement overview Cost sharing overview Qualitative assessment criteria exercise Read the Q&A from the video	Watch the full meeting, which includes breakout sessions 1 and 2, where work group members discussed: Cost sharing and provider reimbursement Preliminary assessment of three models using qualitative criteria Watch additional breakout sessions 1 and 2 Watch additional breakout session 2
Wednesday, June 24, 2020	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (06/24/2020) Meeting summary (06/24/2020) Watch the background and materials video This video provides information and materials to help work group members prepare for this meeting. Review the slide deck (06/08/2020) Watch the COVID-19 briefing video This video shares updates on the impacts and response to the pandemic. Review the slide deck (06/09/2020) Read the Q&A from the videos	Watch the full meeting, which includes one breakout session Watch breakout session 2 Watch breakout session 3
Wednesday, April 22, 2020	1-5 p.m.	CANCELED	This meeting was canceled.
Friday, February 7, 2020	1-5 p.m.	Thurston County Fairgrounds Thurston Expo Center 3054 Carpenter Road SE Lacey, WA 98503	Agenda Meeting summary Assessment criteria (draft) Comparison of universal health care model elements Major international models Getting From There to Here, by Atul Gawande From Incremental to Comprehensive Health Insurance Reform: How Various Reform Options Compare on Coverage and Costs, by Urban Institute Health Policy Center A Path to Universal Coverage and Unified Health Care Financing in California, by Dr. Andrew Bindman, Marian Mulkey, and Dr. Richard Kronnick, University of California, San Francisco	Listen to the meeting

2019

Date	Time	Location	Materials	Additional information
Monday, December 9, 2019	1-5 p.m.	Legislative Building, Columbia Room (Room 119) 416 Sid Snyder Avenue SW Olympia, WA 98501	Agenda Meeting summary Draft charter (updated in November) Draft outline report Proposed decision process Meeting summary Root cause analysis	Watch the meeting
Friday, September 20, 2019	1-5 p.m.	Legislative Building, Columbia Room (Room 119) 416 Sid Snyder Avenue SW Olympia, WA 98501	Agenda Meeting summary Draft charter Health Coverage in Washington State (presentation) Single-payer and Universal Coverage Health Systems (presentation)	Watch the meeting

News and announcements

Date	Title
September 9, 2020	Universal Health Care Work Group meeting next week
August 13, 2020	Universal Health Care Work Group meeting coming up August 25
June 12, 2020	Universal Health Care Work Group to meet virtually this month
March 20, 2020	April 22 Universal Health Care Work Group meeting canceled
February 4, 2020	Universal Health Care Work Group to meet this Friday
December 11, 2019	Universal Health Care Work Group meeting ends early, unexpectedly
December 3, 2019	Universal Health Care Work Group to meet next week
September 11, 2019	Universal Health Care Work Group to begin meeting this month
June 12, 2019	HCA seeking members to serve on Universal Health Care Work Group