Emily Makings

New WA Health Benefit Exchange data show a net decrease in private plan enrollment since March

Some interesting new data from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange last week: While 11,497 people have enrolled in qualified (private) health plans (QHP) since the end of open enrollment in March (thanks to qualifying life events), 24,072 are no longer enrolled. Additionally, the press release includes a chart showing enrollment churn — that is, the […]

New Brief: Washington's Business Taxes Continue to Exceed National Average

In a new brief, we look at this year’s Council on State Taxation report, which summarizes state and local business tax collections in 2013. Washington continues to impose above average business taxes.

WA Health Benefit Exchange wants $59 million for 2015 — will that pencil out?

Last week the Washington Health Benefit Exchange board approved a $59.2 million budget for 2015. Legislators have only authorized up to $40 million for the exchange. The Seattle Times reports, A consultant’s report estimated the exchange would enroll about 85,000 new individuals in private health plans through the exchange for 2015 coverage, for a total of […]

Regarding McCleary, does the Legislature need its mind concentrated?

As Dick noted, in June, the state Supreme Court ordered the state to address why it should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with an earlier court order to submit “a complete plan for fully implementing its program of basic education for each school year between now and the 2017-18 school year.” […]

Making regulations work at the state level

Last month Harvard released a discussion paper by Edward Glaeser and Cass Sunstein, “Moneyball for State Regulators.” As published in the summer edition of National Affairs, that analogy is dropped, but I can’t resist a Moneyball analogy, so the quotes below are from the Harvard version. (Glaeser and Sunstein also wrote about their idea in […]

New workers' comp numbers show that WA still has the nation's highest benefits paid

Today the National Academy of Social Insurance released its annual report on workers’ compensation benefits. There is a data lag, so the new numbers are for 2012. The report shows that Washington still had the highest benefits paid per covered worker in 2012, at $840.16. (Alaska follows with $797.65 and California with $783.94.) That is […]

Facility permitting and rail investment news

There have been several developments in the oil and coal port world over the past week: A new economic analysis of the proposed Tesoro Savage crude oil loading facility at the Port of Vancouver (Wash.) found that it “could generate an estimated $2 billion in ‘economic value’ to the local and regional economy, and 176 […]

Spokesman-Review on the 2015-17 budget challenges

Over the weekend, the Spokesman-Review editorialized that the state’s fiscal choices are “far from easy.” Recent analyses by the Washington Office of Financial Management and Washington Research Council underscore the challenges ahead for what almost certainly will be a Legislature divided into a Republican Senate and Democratic House. Our preview of the 2015-17 state budget is […]

How will the WA Health Benefit Exchange fare in the 2015-17 state budget?

According to a Seattle Times blog post, an Urban Institute report recently found that Washington’s Healthplanfinder is only “moderately effective” on transparency. Additionally, “At its last meeting, the board of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange considered several transparency tools suggested by the Healthy Washington Coalition, comprising more than a dozen advocacy organizations and unions.” These […]

Labor regulations and unintended consequences

There has been a lot of comment over the past month or so about the scheduling issues faced by part-time workers. Steven Greenhouse wrote in the New York Times: As more workers find their lives upended and their paychecks reduced by ever-changing, on-call schedules, government officials are trying to put limits on the harshest of […]