February 28, 2025
Protecting Medicaid and Medicare and Your Ability to Provide Care to Your Patients
Jennifer Hanscom, CEO
The WSMA works tirelessly to advance efforts that support and empower Washington state's physicians and their patients. Nowhere is that more important than in the realm of public policy. We view ourselves as your powerful ally in patient care, representing the profession in the halls of the state Capitol, with legislative bodies and government agencies, as well as before the courts based on policies and directions set by you, our members.
Our time and attention are primarily state-based, but often we must direct our advocacy at the federal level, representing your voice with our state's 10 congressional representatives and two senators.
For the past few days, our attention has been divided as we attempt to advance our state legislative priorities before critical legislative deadlines in Olympia, while also attempting to stop devastating cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, which would have long-term impact on your ability to provide care to patients.
As our Olympia team works with our members to testify on critical bills before the Legislature, our physician leadership and policy team has been meeting with Washington's congressional delegation urging action on Medicaid and Medicare before the March 14 deadline.
Action alert #1: Washington state's Medicaid funding at risk-contact Congress today!
On Tuesday, Feb. 25, House Concurrent Budget Resolution 14, which outlines Congress' budget blueprint for the fiscal year, passed the U.S. House of Representatives. It is expected that the U.S. Senate will pass an identical budget resolution enabling federal lawmakers to utilize "budget reconciliation," a fast-track congressional procedure that allows certain tax, spending, and debt-limit legislation to avoid a filibuster and pass with simple majorities in both chambers. Within this budget resolution are instructions for congressional committees to identify and alter policies related to revenue, spending, and debt. Most alarming are instructions for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has direct and broad jurisdiction over Medicaid, to identify policies that save $880 billion.
While congressional Republicans, in coordination with the Trump administration, are still deliberating the exact nature of the policy proposals to achieve these spending reduction targets, it is widely expected that Medicaid would have to undergo a substantial overhaul to achieve those targets. Policies such as the implementation of per capita caps, mandatory work requirements for "able-bodied" Americans, or reductions in the federal medical assistance percentage, or FMAP (i.e., the amount the federal government reimburses each state for Medicaid), are just some of the drastic changes under congressional consideration.
All of these proposals represent real threats to physician practices and patients. Medicaid, also known as Apple Health, provides coverage to 2 million patients in Washington state.
In addition to harming patients, drastic cuts to Medicaid would also jeopardize our state budget and economy. Washington state receives 66% of its total Medicaid funding from the federal government and shifting that obligation-over $12 billion in 2023-from the federal government to the state would overwhelm our state budget, which is currently trying to fill a projected $12-15 billion budget hole over the next four years.
It's critical that you contact your members of Congress today and urge them to protect Medicaid funding. Please share how cuts to the Medicaid program would impact patients in your community.
If you live in Central or Eastern Washington, it's particularly important that your representative in those districts, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R) in Congressional District 4 or Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R) in Congressional District 5, hear from you on the impact these devastating cuts will have on your community. The WSMA executive committee has shared data on the impact in those congressional districts, but the representatives would like to hear directly from their constituents. We encourage you to call or email a personal message to these representatives. Find contact information for Rep. Newhouse here and Rep. Baumgartner here.
Action alert #2: Continue outreach on H.R. 879, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act
This legislation, if passed, would, effective April 1, prospectively cancel the 2.83% payment cut that went into effect on Jan. 1 while also providing a 2% payment update, helping to stabilize physician practices and protect patients' access to care.
To date there has been bipartisan support of H.R. 879. The WSMA is grateful to Rep. Kim Schrier (D-8), Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-10), Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-4), and Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-5), who have all signed onto the bill. If you live in their districts, be sure to thank them! If your congressional representative is not on this list, please reach out to them.
Contact your representative today and urge them to cosponsor H.R. 879. Double check the list of co-sponsors on the bill webpage before reaching out.
Time is of the essence-spread the word!
We hope you will share these calls to action with your colleagues, family members, and patients. In addition to emails and calls, the WSMA urges you to share your messages and stories on social media. Our team prepares social media toolkits on a bimonthly basis. If you would like to be an active ambassador for WSMA, sign up here. You'll receive our bimonthly toolkits as they're created, and our staff social media expert, Katie Howard, will help to onboard you on how you can help actively promote WSMA priorities through social media channels (and have a bit of fun doing so). You can also find our latest social media toolkit on the WSMA website.
Even with all that's happening at the federal level, I also encourage you to continue to add your voice of support for WSMA's Medicaid Access Program. The bills are still alive in Olympia and need your support. Visit our Medicaid Access Program campaign website to send a message to your legislator today. We urge you to share your stories in your local media and online. More resources, including fact sheets, supporting data, social media graphics, key messages, and more can be found on the campaign site.
With the legislative deadline for bills to be approved by fiscal committees approaching this Friday, many bills have either died or are heading to the floor of either the House or Senate to be voted on. The WSMA remains engaged on numerous issues including, but not limited to, prior authorization, vaccine education, medical debt, international medical graduates, health care registry, corporate practice of medicine, and noncompetes. Be sure to read our twice-monthly Advocacy Report newsletter and watch our weekly legislative update video for more detailed updates.
Thank you again for your engagement on these issues at both the state and the federal levels as we continue to raise the voice of the profession and your patients in these critical debates. As WSMA President John Bramhall, MD, PhD, noted in his recent message to the membership, "The challenges we face today in health care policymaking at the state and federal levels are constant and intense. Regardless, professional integrity and patient welfare must remain paramount. The WSMA will continue to provide accurate, evidence-based information to our members to support and empower appropriate and lawful delivery of care, to elected officials to guide the development of state and federal policy, and to patients to shield them from overt misinformation."