The percentage of the eligible population enrolled in Washington's exchange is 17.4 percent
Yesterday Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post interviewed the Washington Healthplanfinder CEO, Richard Onizuka. She writes: Washington, alongside Vermont, leads the nation in percentage of eligible population enrolled in its exchange. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 33.1 percent of Washingtonians eligible to sign up for coverage through the exchange have gone ahead and done […]
February 03 , 2014 - Emily Makings
New Brief: Sector Distribution of Washington's Minimum Wage Jobs
Last week we released a policy brief on the county distribution of Washington’s minimum wage jobs. Today we have a follow-up to that report: Sector Distribution of Washington’s Minimum Wage Jobs. The accommodation and food services, retail trade and agricultural sectors would be most affected by any increase in the minimum wage.
January 30 , 2014 - Emily Makings
New Brief: County Distribution of Washington's Minimum Wage Jobs
In 2012, there were 68,567 full time equivalent jobs at the minimum wage in Washington. In a new policy brief, we take a look at the distribution of those jobs across the state. Below is a chart from the report, showing the number of minimum wage jobs in each county:
January 28 , 2014 - Emily Makings
50 percent of new enrollments in the Washington exchange are newly eligible for Medicaid under the expansion
Today the Washington Health Benefit Exchange released enrollment numbers through Jan. 23. (Last week the exchange released its December enrollment report, skipping its regular weekly update. The week before it had released data through Jan. 9.) The total number of new enrollments through the exchange is now 323,762. Of that, 86,031 are in qualified (private) […]
January 28 , 2014 - Emily Makings
"Student-athletes" and workers' comp
Football players at Northwestern University have filed a petition to unionize. According to ESPN, the approval process could take years. Here’s the part of the story that interested me the most: Northwestern is expected to oppose the action on the grounds athletes are not employees, and the NCAA, the trade association representing the athletic interests […]
January 27 , 2014 - Emily Makings
2013 union membership in Washington
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its 2013 union membership report on Friday. The total union membership rate nationally was 11.3 percent (no change since 2012). The public-sector union membership rate was 35.3 percent and the private-sector rate was 6.7 percent. Washington’s total union membership rate was 18.9 percent (4th highest in the country). Additionally, […]
January 23 , 2014 - Emily Makings
Through December, 77 percent of Washington exchange enrollees qualified for tax credit
The December enrollment report from the Washington Healthplanfinder was released today. It includes data from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, and is a follow-up to the November report. As readers know, last week the exchange released enrollment numbers through Jan. 9. Although the numbers in today’s report are dated, the report includes some extra information […]
January 23 , 2014 - Emily Makings
Defined benefit pensions are great for employees — until they aren't
The 2013 Employee Benefits Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that of all private sector employees, 19 percent have access to a defined benefit pension and 59 percent have access to a defined contribution retirement plan. Conversely, of all state and local government workers, 83 percent have access to a defined benefit pension, […]
January 16 , 2014 - Emily Makings
Medicaid data and the latest WA health exchange report
The deadline for enrolling in health insurance through the Washington Healthplanfinder for coverage beginning Jan. 1 was Dec. 23. In the weeks since then, the number of new qualified (private) health plan enrollments has been falling, as reported by the exchange this week. Through Jan. 9, QHP enrollments total 73,098 (27 percent of new enrollments […]
January 14 , 2014 - Emily Makings
New Brief: Minimal Changes to 2013-15 Budget in Gov. Inslee's Proposed Supplemental
Last month, Gov. Inslee proposed a supplemental to the 2013-15 operating budget that would make minimal funding changes. The state of affairs has changed somewhat since the governor made his proposal. Given the state Supreme Court’s order regarding McCleary (which Dick wrote about here and here), in today’s state of the state address, Gov. Inslee said […]