Healthcare Team
Working to advance universal, affordable healthcare through education, coalition-building, and advocacy
The Healthcare Team’s primary focus this year is supporting the passage of the Washington Health Trust, the only active universal healthcare proposal in the Washington State Legislature.
Update on Healthcare Bills
As we pass the half-way point of this year's short legislative session, we are focusing our efforts to support bills that are actively advancing this session. These bills will all help make healthcare more affordable and accessible in Washington or will help advance universal healthcare here in Washington. These bills urgently need loud constituent support. We urge our members to send a message to their legislators (both in the house and the senate) for each bill voicing your support for these bills and a call for your legislators to vote YES on these bills too!
The message can be short and should implore your legislators to help make healthcare affordable and accessible in Washington!
SB 5947 Establishing the Washington healthcare board.
DETAILS: This bill would establish a 19-person board to create a single payer, universal healthcare system after receiving federal waivers (ERISA/Medicare) or the State-Based Universal Health Care Act legislation passes nationally.
ACTION: Ask your legislators to vote YES
https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=5947&Year=2025&Initiative=false
HB 2548 Strengthening health care market standards.
Companion bill: SB 6208
DETAILS: Applies the principles of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA) to health care entities, prohibiting various anticompetitive business practices, including unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
Protects consumers from sudden disruptions and surprise price increases when health care entities change ownership.
ACTION: Ask your legislators to vote YES
https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2548&Year=2025&Initiative=false
SB 5387: Concerning the corporate practice of medicine.
Companion bill: HB 1675
DETAILS: Prohibits the corporate practice of health care except through a professional service corporation or limited liability company. Prohibits individuals not licensed to practice a health care profession from interfering with the clinical decision-making of health care providers providing care at licensed facilities.
ACTION ask your legislators to vote YES
https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5387&Year=2025&Initiative=false
HB 2283: Establish a medical loss ratio of at least 90% for healthcare plans.
DETAILS: Legally caps administrative waste for healthcare plans to under 10%.
ACTION: Ask your legislators to vote YES
https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=2283&Year=2025&Initiative=false
Bills that will need to get re-introduced next session:
SB 5233. HB1445 Developing the Washington Health Trust (WA universal healthcare)
SJR.8206 Amending the Constitution to establish a right to affordable health care.
SB.5955 Concerning the Medicaid deprivatization act.
SB.5948 Establishing deadlines for the universal health care commission.
SB.5946 Expanding the income eligibility for the medical assistance program.
Full details a thttps://wholewashington.org/bills/
HEALTHCARE FOR ALL TOOLKIT TO DOWNLOAD AND SHARE
Our healthcare system is in crisis and we can’t afford to wait. Rising costs, coverage losses, and federal cuts are putting families and communities at risk across Washington. We can continue patching a broken system, or we can choose a better path: universal healthcare, like every other developed nation has done.
The Washington Health Trust Action Kit makes it easy to take meaningful action to protect and expand healthcare for everyone in our state. Inside, you’ll find clear talking points, answers to common questions, and step-by-step actions that help move universal healthcare forward right now.
Whether you have two minutes or an hour, this kit gives you everything you need to make an impact.
Download it, share it, and take your first action today.
HEALTHCARE UPDATE
By Healthcare Team
Two aspirational universal healthcare bills were called to a public hearing in the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee last Thursday, January 29th, keeping them on pace for a floor vote in the 2026 legislative session. Despite the early hearing time of 8 AM, over 30 advocates showed up in person in a gesture of support.
Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 8206 and Senate Bill (SB) 5947 can both be described as universal healthcare intent bills. They deepen the state’s commitment toward a statewide universal public healthcare system, but do not define the implementable to actual universal healthcare coverage. They do not impact the budget, which played a part in why these two bills may advance.
SB.5947 commits Washington to the immediate implementation of a statewide universal public healthcare system upon the granting of federal waivers or the passage of federal legislation that would allow for Medicare and ERISA plans to be fully integrated into a state plan.
SJR.8206 would amend the Washington State Constitution, adding a protection “to cost-effective, clinically appropriate, and affordable health care” for every Washingtonian.
Public testimony was overwhelmingly in favor of both bills' passage. Additionally, committee hearings allow the public to weigh in their position on the bills prior to the start of the hearing (Pro, Con, or Other). Again, both bills had significant support, with the Pro votes outnumbering Cons by a three to one margin.
The bills are scheduled for an executive session where the committee will vote whether the bills advance to the Rules Committee on February 3rd.
Mark your calendars for Thursday, February 12th when the Universal Health Care Commission meets. The meeting is from 2 - 5 PM.
This body has studied the implementation of Universal Health Care for years. They meet once a month and the meetings devote a portion of their agenda to public comment.
The meetings are hybrid, but we want to pack the room with as many healthcare supporters as possible to show our commitment to advancing Universal Healthcare policy.
For more information, to sign up for live testimony or to submit written testimony, please click here
Email health@westseattleindivisible.com for a Zoom link for the meeting.
Featured Articles
LOBBYING IN OLYMPIA
WSI was in Olympia to lobby for universal healthcare on Jan.12, the first day of this legislative session. Our members urged State legislators to support the “Washington Health Trust” (WHT) – universal healthcare proposed by Whole Washington and its allies, including WSI’s Healthcare Team.
HEALTHCARE FOR ALL OVERVIEW!
The uncertainty of healthcare coverage in America is a policy choice, not a foregone conclusion….LINKED HERE.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Jen Nye, has been with Whole Washington since 2017 and is more committed than ever to securing universal healthcare for Washington.
READ the Interview LINKED HERE.
UPCOMING EVENTS & ACTIONS
Featured Actions
What You Can Do NOW!
Action 1. ‘Take the Pledge’ Campaign
When our elected officials fail to act we, the people of Washington, have the power to enact our own laws. Initiatives are put on the ballot by collecting a certain number of signatures from voters and then are passed if they receive a simple majority. Whole Washington needs your help to get universal healthcare on the ballot. Pledge your support now with this easy online action.
SIGN HERE and you'll be notified once the official campaign has begun.
Share the pledge with friends, family, and coworkers statewide through social media or email.
Challenge yourself to get at least 20 people to also sign the pledge
Action 2. Contact Elected Officials
Links to comment on the Washington Health Trust legislation:
COMMENT LINK for House Bill 1445
COMMENT LINK for Senate Bill 5233
LINK HERE to send an e-message to the Governor
Find your legislators
LINK HERE (if you know their name)
LINK HERE (if you don’t know their name or your district).
LINK HERE legislator contact spreadsheet
Then:
Send postcards, letters, and make phone calls to legislators (sample scripts will be added later)
Schedule a meeting with your legislator. LINK HERE
TIPS: How to Get Results!
When contacting elected officials, generally it is best to start with a short email that provides a clear “ask” and all the important information and context you're able to provide succinctly.
If you have not received a non-automated confirmation of your email within a couple of days, you should start calling their office. You can call the hotline at (855) 785-3628 or use the direct number from the link above (see sample phone call follow-up script).
Once your meeting is scheduled, send an email/invite to advocacy@wholewashington.org and they will schedule a legislative coordinator to attend with you.
Finally, share this information with family and friends statewide so they can contact their representatives.
Action 3. Volunteer for Phonebanking
Whole Washington hosts weekly phone banking events on Thursdays from 4:30 to 6pm. These events are hosted via Zoom so the facilitator is available to support you as you make calls. They will be super easy calls, targeting supporters, asking them to attend local events or otherwise get involved.
More info LINK HERE
Valuable Resources
Universal healthcare. By bill or by ballot!
About the Washington Health Trust
Whole Washington is working to make universal healthcare a reality for Washington and the United States - here's how our plan works!
What Is the Washington Health Trust?
The Washington Health Trust is a proposal for a statewide, publicly financed universal healthcare system that would cover every Washington resident. It would replace private insurance with a single nonprofit public program that provides comprehensive, medically necessary care.
Under the Washington Health Trust, patients would have no premiums, deductibles, or point-of-service charges. The plan includes a defined essential benefits package, a phased transition, and progressive public financing designed to lower overall healthcare spending by eliminating private insurance administrative waste and cost inflation.
Advocates argue that the Washington Health Trust would simplify the healthcare system, expand access to care, and ensure that no one in Washington goes without healthcare due to cost.
“Whole Washington is the state's largest universal healthcare advocacy organization made up of ordinary citizens like you. We support statewide and national efforts to make universal healthcare a reality through both legislation and ballot initiatives.”
ACTION: Pledge to sign when it’s time!
Healthcare Cuts Hurt Real People, Help WSI Tell That Story
TELL YOUR STORY
Budget cuts to health care programs don’t just affect numbers on a page, they impact lives. We’re gathering local stories to understand how changes to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, the CDC, and NIH-funded medical research are affecting individuals, families, and communities.
Has your life, or the life of someone you care about, been impacted? Your story matters. By sharing your experience, you can help shine a light on the real-life consequences of these cuts and be part of a movement for change.
About Us
The WSI Healthcare Team works to advance universal, affordable healthcare through education, coalition-building, and advocacy. Our primary focus is supporting the passage of the Washington Health Trust, the only active universal healthcare proposal in the Washington State Legislature.
We educate our members and neighbors about rising healthcare costs and what is at stake when access to care is treated as a commodity rather than a public good. We partner with unions, advocacy organizations, and other Indivisible chapters and legislative districts, alongside Whole Washington, to build broad public support and hold elected officials accountable. We also create meaningful opportunities for WSI members to engage directly, including legislative outreach, public testimony, and community education.
“We believe healthcare is a human right,
and we organize to make that principle a reality in Washington State”