Washington Senate Bill 5526 Of 2019 To Create The ‘Cascade Care’ Public Option Health Insurance Plan

On May 13, 2019, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed this bill, Senate Bill 5526 of 2019,  into legislation. The bill creates the first "public option" for healthcare in the nation, beginning in January of 2021. The bill details the effective dates, as well as the three public option plans that will be available. The bill also gives insight into how the program will work; the state will contract with private companies to provide the services but the state will ultimately control the pricing, and all plans will be available on the Washington Health Exchange, a public exchange platform for individually . . .