King County Council urges Congress to enact comprehensive health reform in 2009

July 27, 2009

Summary

Motion asks federal lawmakers to incorporate local health care principles in reform legislation

Story

With heath care reform at the top of the agenda for the nation’s lawmakers, the Metropolitan King County Council today called on Congress to pass comprehensive health care reform in 2009.

The motion, introduced by Councilmember Julia Patterson, specifically urges Congress to include strong and stable funding for public health infrastructure in any health care reform legislation, and to incorporate health care principles adopted by the King County Board of Health last September.

“Although health care initiatives are being drafted at the state and national level, reform will ultimately be implemented at the local level - in counties and cities,” said Councilmember Patterson. “In order to effectively communicate our approach to the state of Washington and the Obama Administration, the Board of Health has created a set of principles that we believe define the essential components of a well-functioning, high-quality health care system.”

The 11-member Board of Health, which is responsible for setting county-wide public policy and enacting public health regulations, established the six principles for health care reform in 2008 to guide positive health outcomes in King County. These principles address issues of equity and access to comprehensive health care services, and require that:

• health care services be accessible and available to all United States residents;
• care must be of high quality and patient-centered;
• health care financing be sustainable over the long term, and include sufficient funding for public health infrastructure and programming so that services are cost and health effective;
• services encourage patients to be engaged in their care;
• the system emphasize primary care, preventive care, and healthy lifestyle choices; and
• the system track health disparities and be designed to reduce them to the greatest extent possible.

The timeline for drafting legislation is moving quickly for state and federal lawmakers working on health care reform. President Obama has asked Congress to deliver legislation to his desk by the end of October.

“This is a unique opportunity for our region to have an impact in shaping an improved system for health care in this country and our timing could not be better,” said Patterson. “We’re working on this issue because we can and should have the health care we need, and because we want a thriving community where all of us can enjoy healthy and productive lives.”




Read the motion