Washington Exchange enrollment through January
The Washington Health Benefit Exchange (HBE) has released some enrollment numbers through January. I say “some” because they only include numbers for new and renewed qualified (private) health plans (QHP) and for new Medicaid enrollees under the expansion. They do not include numbers for Medicaid renewals or enrollments in Medicaid by those who were previously […]
February 05 , 2015 - Emily Makings
"Too few people" buying insurance through the Healthplanfinder
The Seattle Times has a good article from Lisa Stiffler about enrollment issues at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (HBE). I wrote last week that enrollments are well short of the HBE’s goal for this year’s open enrollment, which ends Feb. 15. Stiffler provides more details: The trouble for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, which […]
February 05 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Teen unemployment rate is higher in Washington than in Idaho
As Jim Camden at the Spokesman-Review reports, yesterday the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee held a hearing on bills that would allow for a lower minimum wage for teenagers (SB 5421 and 5422). One part of the hearing stood out to me, and Camden notes it in his blog post: Democrats on the committee criticized […]
February 04 , 2015 - Emily Makings
January 30 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Congestion hurts port competitiveness
Some news this week on the port slowdown: Monday the AP reported that Negotiators working on a new contract for dockworkers at West Coast seaports, which handle about $1 trillion worth of cargo annually, have resolved a key dispute in their difficult talks, an association representing employers said Monday. . . . The new agreement […]
January 30 , 2015 - Emily Makings
January 29 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Tax credit (and approximate enrollment) numbers from the Washington Exchange
Yesterday the Washington Health Benefit Exchange (HBE) announced that Healthplanfinder customers received $334 million in tax credits last year. The average monthly tax credit per family was $390 a month, or more than $3,100 annually to help lower the costs of health insurance. . . . Customers who enrolled in 2014 coverage provided their estimated […]
January 29 , 2015 - Emily Makings
President drops 529 tax proposal; GET program dodges a bullet
This week President Obama decided to drop his State of the Union proposal to tax earnings from 529 plans. These plans are a tax advantaged way to save for college — distributions from the accounts are not taxed when used for educational purposes. (Washington’s GET program is one of them; we wrote about the program […]
January 28 , 2015 - Emily Makings
Agricultural production in Washington valued at over $10 billion
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the value of Washington’s agricultural production was $10.2 billion in 2013. (Up from $9.97 billion in 2012.) This is a new record high. Additionally, “Record high values of production were established for five of the top ten Washington commodities, including milk, potatoes, cattle and calves, grapes, and pears.” […]
January 28 , 2015 - Emily Makings