In this edition of “Inside Olympia,” host Austin Jenkins discusses Washington State’s Health Care Cost Transparency Board with Sue Birch, the Director of the Washington State Health Care Authority, and Eileen Cody, a board member who was a long-time state legislator focused on health care issues.

More states are jumping in to shield patients from large, unexpected bills for ambulance rides in the absence of federal protections.

“Consolidation of healthcare is happening everywhere and in every part of our healthcare system.” Find out the promise, the reality, and what we can do about it, with Dr. Debra Glasser’s latest column.

Consolidation in the health care market has become a growing concern for some in Washington state. A bill in Olympia aims to protect Washingtonians against restricted health care access and rising costs from hospital mergers.

See highlights from the State of Reform conference featuring Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Patient Coalition of Washington Executive Director Jim Freeburg, “Health care is extremely complicated. Getting everybody together in the same room is really where you can make a difference and move the dialogue forward.”

Health care advocates are celebrating the Washington State Senate’s passage of the Keep Our Care Act. Bill sponsor, Sen. Emily Randall, (D-Bremerton) said the policy was about ensuring Washingtonians had meaningful access to their legally enshrined reproductive rights. “A right without access is not a right,” Randall said.

In this ad during the Super Bowl, Fat Joe demands the existing rules on hospital price transparency be enforced, saying “prices are now a patient’s right and they’re breaking the law whenever they hide them.”

In this ad during the Super Bowl, 2024 Grammy-winning Best Country Album Artist Lainey Wilson, 2024 2x Grammy-nominated break-out country music star Jelly Roll, and 2023 Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Valerie June call for a more affordable and equitable healthcare system through price transparency.

Hospitals and health systems may have to report more information about how mergers would affect the care they provide if a controversial bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday becomes law. 

They say that it’s impossible to tackle the high cost of health care, but Washington Health Care Authority Director Sue Birch and Washington Health Alliance Executive Director Drew Oliveira disagree and chart a path for public and private organizations, employers, health plans and providers to help us achieve improved access, better quality, and more affordable care.