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2025 SOLUTIONS

We are fighting for solutions to stop unfair medical bills, slow corporate influence, improve price transparency, and tackle high prices.

 We asked Washingtonians
“What’s the one thing you would change about health care?” 
Here’s what they said:

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“I would change how pricey it is and try to see ways to make it more affordable.”
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“The cost, because it has put a lot of people in debt.”
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“Make it cheaper because not a lot of people can afford good health care.”
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“Lower premiums to make health care more affordable.”
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“I would change the overall affordability because it is almost impossible for the average family to pay for doctor visits, copays and prescriptions.”
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“The cost. It is too expensive and inaccessible for many people.
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“I would reduce the costs.”
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“Make it more affordable for the people of Washington.”
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Policies We Are Supporting

There isn’t one solution to fixing our health care system.
That’s why we need a multi-pronged approach. Click here to download our 2025 Policy Priorities fact sheet.

Tackle Unfair Prices

Slow Corporate Influence

Improve Transparency

Stop Unfair Medical Bills

Tackle Unfair Prices

Health care prices are rapidly rising & lopsided: Some WA hospitals charge prices up to 4x what the federal government says is a fair price for Medicare, while many primary care & behavioral health providers get far less for preventive, community-based care.

  • HB 1123 / SB 5083 will moderate & rebalance prices through “reference pricing.” This HCA-request bill uses a proven model to set reasonable payment limits in public & school employee health plans for hospitals (2x Medicare rate + more for rural, community & children’s hospitals), and adds minimum payment levels for primary care & behavioral health (1.5x the Medicare rate). Patient costs will lower & the state will save. Click here to download our fact sheet on HB 1123/SB 5083. 

Slow Corporate Influence

Large health systems are buying up independent hospitals & practices, without safeguards for patient access or affordability. Washington can protect patients by:

A man in a blue shirt sits in a doctor's office, with his child standing behind him. He is smiling at a doctor, who sits across from him and has a stethoscope around his neck. The doctor's back is to the camera. His right hand is on the patient's left shoulder.
  • HB 1881 will enhance state oversight of health system consolidation, allowing theAttorney General to review proposed mergers & acquisitions to ensure the transaction would promote access to essential services & patient affordability.
  • SB 5387/HB 1675 will codify Corporate Practice of Medicine protections to keep patient health decisions in the hands of licensed clinicians, rather than outside business interests.
  • HB 1560/SB 5638 will tax excess compensation of hospital executives, returning funds to the public if executives pay themselves more than 10x WA’s average wage(~$900,000). 

Improve Transparency


We can’t improve what we don’t know. Our state’s efforts to understand rising health care costs are hampered by missing and incomplete data. Patients still don’t know the real price tag for health care or who owns their doctor’s office. 

A photograph of two people smiling in front of a white wall. On the left is a Black woman smiling with her hands clasped. She wears a light blue shirt and a brown long sleeve shirt underneath. She is looking to her right at a man who is also smiling. He is wearing a green dotted button-down shirt and has a sweater tied around his neck.
  • SB 5493 will require hospitals to publish their prices for certain services, giving theDept. of Health new authority to enforce federal price transparency rules. Hospitals that fail to publish their prices can’t collect on medical debts for those services.
  • HB 1382 will increase public transparency in our state’s All Payer Claims Database by prohibiting insurers or providers from withholding health care prices by claiming the information is “proprietary.” This HCA-request bill will also allow public purchasers like the state to use claims data to help make better health care purchasing decisions.
  • SB 5561/HB 1686 will help solve a critical infrastructure gap by creating a registry of health care providers, organizations, and facilities. This bill will improve health care resource planning, allowing us to analyze provider shortage areas that impact rural areas or other underserved communities and monitoring trends in consolidation. 

Stop Unfair Medical Bills

Medical debt can lead to wrecked credit, bankruptcy, & impoverishment. In our 2024 survey of Washingtonians, nearly 1/3 lived in a household with medical debt.Washington families shouldn’t face ruin and insecurity just for seeking medical care.

A photograph of a female doctor in an office, with anatomy posters in the background. The doctor is wearing glasses, a green shirt, and a lab coat, and has a stethoscope around her neck. She is looking down and smiling at a girl with long black hair, who has her back to the camera.
  • SB 5480/HB 1632 stops medical debt from being reported on consumer credit scores, and gives patients and the Attorney General the ability to sue under the ConsumerProtection Act if debt collectors or hospitals/providers violate these protections.
  • SB 5651 helps prevent families from falling into poverty because of medical debt by ensuring a basic amount of family savings is protected from garnishment.
Read About Our Previous Wins
Read About Our Other Proposals