Rep. Cody pushes 'Fair Share' bill

By Tim St. Clair

Not many communities other than West Seattle have the heads of two important committees in the Washington State Legislature.

In the Senate there's Sen. Erik Poulsen, who lives in West Seattle and also represents White Center, Burien and Vashon Island. He's chairman of the Senate Water, Energy and Environment. (Poulsen was profiled in the Jan. 11 issue.)

In the Washington House of Representatives is West Seattle resident Rep. Eileen Cody who is chairwoman of the House Health Care Committee, where she juggles legislation like a scheduler in an emergency room.

A torrent of issues related to health care roil around the committee which grapples with the licensing of hospitals, regulation of health care professionals, pharmaceutical prices, nursing homes, delivery of health care and a multitude of other medical issues.

The members of the House Health Care Committee seem well-suited for the task. Cody is a registered nurse at Group Health. Other members include a physician, a chiropractor, a mental health counselor, two paramedics and three more nurses.

One bill listed high on Cody's agenda this session of the Legislature is the Fair Share bill which pressures large companies operating in the state to provide affordable health insurance for their Washington employees.

According to language in the bill, the public's interest is in saving taxpayers' money. When uninsured working people get sick, they frequently rely on public medical facilities and publicly funded health care programs. Sections of the bill point out that one in six Washington residents already is enrolled in Medicaid, state children's health insurance or the state's Basic Health Plan.

Under the Fair Share bill, companies with at least 5,000 employees would pay the equivalent of 9 percent of their payroll costs toward providing health benefits for their employees. Or they could pay the difference to the state of Washington for providing publicly funded health coverage for their employees.

Maryland's legislature last week passed a law requiring private companies with more than 10,000 workers in the state to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on employee health benefits or pay the difference into a state Medicaid fund. The bill overcame a veto by Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. and was designed there as a rebuke to retail giant Wal-Mart.

"The market is stable now," Cody said. "It's time to even the playing field."

Cody's future goal is health insurance coverage for employees of even smaller companies.

Meanwhile the Fair Share bill also would provide a state subsidy to smaller companies to defray the cost of health insurance for their employees.

Cody spelled out some of the other issues the House Health Care Committee will take up in this 60-day session, which began Jan. 9. Among them, the committee is considering setting ranges for the amounts of financial awards for successful litigants in medical malpractice cases.

In another aspect of malpractice, research shows that people are less likely to sue if the doctor admits his or her mistake and apologizes, Cody said. The state could encourage physicians to be forthright about their medical errors and more apologetic toward their patients when they're wrong.

Last year, Cody sponsored legislation that creates a prescription drug purchasing consortium. Citizens, businesses and local governments can join the state in negotiating with pharmaceutical companies over bulk-rate drug prices. An estimated 81,000 senior citizens and 120,000 uninsured working-age Washington residents can buy more prescriptions.

Rebecca Kavoussi, director of public policy for the Community Health Network of Washington, described Cody's job as chairwoman of the House Health Care Committee "a big purview on a huge plate."

Cody has been restoring money to health care programs that were cut when state government was in the red. Now Washington has a surplus and about 38,000 more youngsters will receive dental care because of Cody's work, Kavoussi said.

Last year, the state held the line on the number of low-income adults covered by Washington's basic health plan. The state is in better financial health now so 10,000 more slots will be available to low-income working people. Cody is pushing for expanded coverage for the state's children and she wants to make the health plan available to Washington's small employers too, Kavoussi said.

While Cody directs the House Health Care Committee, she also has a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, which doles out money to run state programs. That helps her make sure enough money is budgeted for health-care programs, Kavoussi said.

The Working for Health Coalition is made up of 30 organizations representing health care, children, education, faith and labor. Its focus is maintaining the health care "safety net" of government services that provides medical care to people with very low income.

Dr. Bob Crittenden, chairman of the Working for Health Coalition, said Cody is a stalwart when it comes to providing health care to poor children in Washington.

Youngsters do better in school and cost state government less later if they grow up in good health, Crittenden said. Cody has been seeking efficient and affordable ways to provide medical care, such as immunizations.

The 34th District representative also helped connect Washington to other states, which put together a website comparing the effectiveness and cost of the most popular prescription drugs in America. It includes the most common prescription drugs for cholesterol, high blood pressure and stomach problems. The public can use the information just as state-employed pharmaceutical buyers do to purchase drugs for people in state-run programs.

"You need information to make good decisions," Crittenden said.

Cody also was a prime sponsor of a pharmacy bill, which relies more on market forces to determine the price of prescription drugs, Crittendan said. Among many aspects of the bill, it also called for greater efficiency in handling medical paperwork.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at 932-0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com