Due to COVID-19, HCA’s lobby is closed. Learn more about your customer service options.

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 was to provide recommendations to the Legislature on how to create, implement, maintain, and fund a universal health care system.

Universal Health Care Work Group legislative reports

View our final report to the Legislature, submitted January 15, 2021.
View our report update to the Legislature, submitted May 15, 2020.
Read our preliminary report, submitted to the Legislature November 15, 2019.

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.

Past meetings and materials

The Universal Health Care Work Group held their last meeting on December 9, 2020. See below to view past meeting materials and videos.

2020

Date	Time	Location	Materials	Additional information
Wednesday, December 9	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (12/09/2020) Meeting summary (12/09/2020) - draft	Watch the full meeting Listen to breakout session 1 Watch breakout session 2 Watch breakout session 3 Public comments: View public comments received via survey View additional public comments received via email
Thursday, October 29	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (10/29/2020) Meeting summary (10/29/2020) - draft Past efforts in pursuing health care reform in Washington State Cascade Care subsidy study slide deck (10/23/2020) - provided by the Washington Health Benefit Exchange Example of a four-year path to universal coverage (draft) Universal health care model summary - expenditures and revenues Resources Government Alliance on Race and Equity toolkit Office of Equity Task Force proposal Governor's Interagency Council on Health Disparities	Watch the full meeting Watch a breakout session Public comments: View public comments received via survey and email View additional public comments received via email Read letter from Washington State Medical Association Read letter from Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists
Wednesday, October 7	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (10/07/2020) Meeting summary (10/07/2020) - draft Watch the video: Preparing for the October 7 meeting See the Q&A from the video Preliminary model results slide deck (10/07/2020) End goals slide deck (10/07/2020) Quick reference guide (10/07/2020) Universal health care coverage for children in Washington State (10/07/2020) Estimated impact of COVID-19 on Washington State's health coverage (10/07/2020)	Watch the full meeting View the public comments received via survey and email
Wednesday, September 16	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (09/16/2020) Meeting summary (10/16/2020) - draft 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 Review the Preliminary Model Results slide deck (09/16/2020)	Watch the full meeting, which includes both breakout sessions where work group members discussed: Outcomes of actuarial analysis (breakout session 1) The work ahead to implement the models (breakout session 2) Watch a second group from breakout session 2 Watch a third group from breakout session 2 View the public comments received via survey and email
Tuesday, August 25	1-4 p.m.	Meeting was held virtually	Agenda (08/25/2020) Meeting summary (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 View the public comments received via survey and email
Wednesday, June 24	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 View the public comments received via survey
Wednesday, April 22	1-5 p.m.	CANCELED	This meeting was canceled.
Friday, February 7	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 View the public comments received via survey and email

2019

Date	Time	Location	Materials	Additional information
Monday, December 9	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 View the public comments received via survey
Friday, September 20	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 View the public comments received via survey

Public comment

All Universal Health Care Work Group meetings were public meetings, and members of the public were welcomed and encouraged to share input with the work group. View our public comment summary to view all public comments.

News and announcements

Date	Title
February 10, 2021	New home for Universal Health Care Work Group webpages
January 15, 2021	Universal Health Care Work Group submits recommendations to the Legislature
December 1, 2020	Last Universal Health Care Work Group meeting on December 9
October 23, 2020	Universal Health Care Work Group meeting on October 29
October 2, 2020	October 7 is the next Universal Health Care Work Group meeting
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