Wash. health plan for poor to raise rates

People covered by the state-subsidized Basic Health Plan will pay more out of pocket, but the state will not kick huge numbers of people off the plan, despite previous warnings that 40,000 could abruptly lose their coverage to save the state money.

The Basic Health Plan offers taxpayer-supported health coverage to people making less than double the federal poverty level, which is equal to about $44,000 for a family of four.

It's intended for the "working poor" - people who have jobs, but don't qualify for Medicaid and can't afford their own health insurance. About 100,000 are enrolled in the plan, which is bankrolled entirely by the state.

The new pricing scale will increase the average monthly premium by about $25, to nearly $62, starting in January. The yearly deductible also will increase, from $150 to $250.

Even a modest price hike will be difficult for the poorest families who rely on Basic Health for coverage, administrator Steve Hill said Monday, "but this option gives those families a choice. No one qualified for the program will be arbitrarily removed."

Earlier this year, facing a 2 1/2-year budget deficit of about $9 billion, the Legislature cut spending on the program by more than 40 percent, saving about $250 million.

Majority Democrats warned that the budget cut could lead to tens of thousands of people being booted from the program amid a major recession. But the program's administrators, who report to Gov. Chris Gregoire, decided instead to raise rates and find efficiencies.

The size of Basic Health will still drop under the plans announced Monday, from about 100,000 participants to roughly 65,000 next year. But the cuts will come more slowly, through a variety of steps, rather than kicking off large groups of people, which was considered.

As many as 8,000 people who are eligible for Medicaid will be moved onto that plan, which splits costs with the federal government. Basic Health officials also plan to audit their rolls more carefully, which should find people who are no longer poor enough to qualify for coverage or should be paying more.

Attrition will clear up thousands more spots. With new additions frozen, administrators hope those steps will substantially reduce the program by the beginning of next year, when the higher rates take effect.

It costs about $245 to insure each person on Basic Health, with the state's cost based on the sliding-scale premiums that members pay. Under the new prices, the cheapest premiums will double from $17 to $34, with a higher-end premium increasing from $135 to $201, spokesman Dave Wasser said.

Thousands of people could be priced out of the system. A more modest rate hike a few years ago cut the rolls by about 4 percent, Wasser said.

Gregoire, who initially proposed the Basic Health cut in her December budget request, praised Monday's decision.

"They found a way to minimize the number of people losing health care, but we still have a long way to go," Gregoire said. "There are more than 30,000 Washington residents waiting to get into Basic Health."

Republican lawmakers gave mixed reviews. Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, said the Legislature could have saved even more money by adopting a similar strategy more quickly. She also said Democrats should have set up a separate, low-cost health plan for younger people, potentially freeing up more Basic Health slots for the needy.

"The agency has done the best it can to protect the people it serves," Pflug said. "The Legislature adjourned and left the Health Care Authority holding the bag, so it had to make the hard decisions the Legislature refused to make."

Also on Monday, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said some 110,000 people have lost health coverage because of job losses in the past 12 months, significantly adding to the rolls of uninsured in Washington.

The figure includes about 95,000 people who have lost jobs, and about 15,000 dependents, said Kreidler, a Democrat.

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On the Net:

Health Care Authority: http://www.hca.wa.gov