Healing our health care system

If you’ve been following my work in the state Senate, you’ve likely picked up on some themes. In all my work, I look at the state’s policy problems through a pragmatic lens of structure, discipline and accountability.

But what’s the goal? In my view, legislators have an obligation to the public to use the resources they send to state government to do the most good for the most people.

One area that touches all of our lives and pocketbooks is health care. Escalating costs are a big problem for patients in Washington. You may have heard me rattle off some startling statistics about the state of our health care system. Despite year after year of record revenues coming to Olympia, legislative leaders seem unable or unwilling to effectively prioritize the significant resources we allocate for health care in our budget.

Our neighbors struggling with an already unaffordable Washington take little solace in the state’s ability to help them with ever-increasing health-care costs. Put simply, the state is underfunding health care for those in need when we don’t have to. The governor recently said in his State of the State address that Washington is “stronger than ever,” but I think a quick drive around our community may demonstrate otherwise and health costs and access are no different.

The three biggest challenges facing our health-care system, as I see it, are related to the workforce, patient and physician empowerment and funding. To that end, I’ve introduced several pieces of legislation to expand access to quality health care, improve outcomes and support residents in need.

My first proposal, Senate Bill 5815, would enact a physician assistant licensure compact, which would allow licensed PAs from other states in the compact to practice medicine in Washington. They’d have to adhere to all of our standards in addition to meeting other administrative requirements such as not having any felony or misdemeanor convictions. We need all the providers we can get and entering these compacts just makes sense.

My second health-care workforce bill relates to licensing of what the state calls radiologic technologists, specifically magnetic resonance imaging. Senate Bill 5880 would update our state’s laws to recognize the changing landscape in this field and expand access to life-saving treatments like breast MRIs. In this case, it’s not just about quantity, but also about quality of care and ensuring these professionals can be properly licensed.

The final proposal that I’d like to highlight is Senate Bill 5814, which would remove barriers to treatment so that doctors and patients are empowered to make the best decisions for their care. If signed into law, patients wouldn’t have to wait for other therapies and treatments to fail before getting the coverage they deserve. I’ve never met a patient with this kind of cancer who didn’t have some sort of bucket list. Giving patients and their families a little more time to check off a few more items on that list and helping manage pain and improving quality of life, makes this one of the most important bills I’ve sponsored.