u/Silver_Guidance4134

The Health Care is a Human Right (HCHR) Coalition is a grassroots community-labor campaign with the goal of securing the fundamental right to health care for all individuals in Washington State & our nation.

It is made up of supporting organizations and individuals from throughout the state standing together to create a health system that reflects our principles.

Whole Washington is a proud member of HCHR and our volunteers serve on most/all of the committees.

Do you know of an organization that believes Health Care is a Human Right? HCHR is a valuable space full of industry experts and people who want to fix our healthcare system.

Learn more at: https://www.hchrwashington.org/

Link to the moment after she is asked if she will run for higher office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mav8dztF7bY?t=85m30s

This is the energy we need from both national and state level politicians. Do you know a candidate/org/elected with this kind of energy? Send them to https://wholewashington.org/endorse/

I replaced the click bait Seattle Times headline with a more informative one using the key facts from the article

Join Whole Washington for a virtual townhall regarding the Washington Health Trust and Whole Washington’s By Bill Or By Ballot strategy. Come get YOUR questions answered.

Thank you to these individuals! Universal Healthcare is a winning issue!

1. Kevin Moynihan, LD 19 (also signed Patients over Profits)
2. Annie Fitzgerald, LD 38
3. Ashley Fedan, LD 11 
4. Kenneth King, Pierce County Council
5. Angela Taylor, LD 2 (also signed Patients over Profits)
6. Kelabe Tewolde, LD 37
7. Jessica Forsythe, LD 48 (also signed Patients over Profits)
8. Brett Hennrich, CD 03
9. Danica Noble, LD 32
10. Ron Davis, LD 46 (Note: he is challenging WW endorser Gerry Pollet)
11. Kristin Lillegard, LD 23 (also signed Patients over Profits)
12. Jaelynn Scott, LD 37
13. Kim Harless, LD 49
14. Rebecca Saldana, King County Council
15. John Duresky, CD 04

Patients over Profits is a campaign from National Nurses United where candidates say they will not take more than $200 from healthcare/insurance companies.

Also, shouting out:

Aaron Croft
LD-6 (spokane area) mentions WHT on website and shares our quarter sheets at his tables!

Tomas Scheel, CD 2 (Signed Patients over Profits)

More keep coming in! I know of a few endorsements and PoP pledges that have been promised! Encourage your reps and candidates to endorse Whole Washington at https://wholewashington.org/endorse

It's good to know some folks are noticing the complacency of our state government on healthcare. This King 5 article does a great job laying out the problem.

Check out r/wholewashington for more on the solution

This is a forum in Wapato, Washington for healthcare information that anyone can attend! It is on May 21st, 2026 from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Wapato Community Hall.

It is put on by the Yakima Valley Healthcare Defense Partenership. This forum features guest speakers from Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, Yakima Neighborhood Health, SHIBA Service WA State OIC, Poder Latinx and r/WholeWashington

The forum will feature live Spanish translation services.

Register at the QR code on the flyer! We hope to see you there!

Direct link: https://yakimavalleyhealthcaredefensepartnership.my.canva.site/united-we-thrive

Look for our big white banner shown in the second picture!

Here is the link to watch. Testimony is near the beginning. If you are really into healthcare policy, stay the whole time! If not, tune in to hear passionate testimony from our healthcare adcvocates!

You can still come in person if you are interested! Meetings are open to the public. Find information here: https://wholewashington.org/event/uhcc-meeting-field-trip/

Across Washington, Medicare patients are facing denials and delays as the result of the launch of a pilot program that requires doctors to get approval from a third-party contractor (based in Arizona) using artificial intelligence (AI) technology - and before they can provide certain types of medical care. The time needed to complete certain procedures is now up to four times longer compared with before the implementation of the pilot, according to a new report citing hospital data. This has caused much pain and suffering on the part of elderly patients. During a series of congressional hearings over the past two weeks, Washington lawmakers questioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the program’s human consequences. Article at link:

WA patients agonize as Medicare AI program continues to delay care | The Seattle Times

We have monthly team meetings in King County! This one was held at the Columbia Branch Library. Find more events at https://wholewashington.org/events/

For the next Universal Health Care Commission meeting, Whole Washington is taking a field trip to the Capitol!

Let’s make a united front in support. Join us in showing up for universal healthcare.

If you can’t attend in-person, you can always join the meeting via Teams. Watch here.

RSVP below to let us know you’ll be there! If you need a ride or are able to provide one check out the Group Car Pool link.

https://wholewashington.org/event/uhcc-meeting-field-trip/

See you there!

We had our fifth Universal Healthcare Stakeholder Meeting with Senator Hasegawa this week. Dozens of people showed up virtually to review the legislative session and work on our plans for 2027.

The stakeholders in this group were united through personal connections between known universal healthcare advocates and representatives from organizations actively involved in the universal healthcare movement. The list was developed to include labor unions, state agencies, legislative staff, and providers. The result of our 2025 stakeholder meetings was the introduction of five new bills which will be summarized later in the document.

The most conversation and enthusiasm happened around Medicaid reform. There is significant interest around expanding access and removing insurance companies from Medicaid. There is significant interest from both doctors (WSMA attended) and advocates in this space. We also talked about whether or not the Governor and the Health Care Authority can just unilaterally make this decision. Spoiler: Probably yes, practically no

There were some new people at the meeting from our state government and unions. We are always looking for more organizations/stakeholders to join! If you know someone who would be an important voice, let us know! DM me or respond in comments if you know a group/union that would like to be involved!

Local event! A local group of volunteers from Whole Washington is meeting this Sunday at 1 in the cafe space at West Oly Haggen's to plan out the next couple months of events and actions. (And, you know, probably vent about how messed up the healthcare system is.) We have a lot going on and we need a lot of people!

Come join us to learn more and hopefully get involved! RSVP here so we know to bring enough snacks.