State Insurance Commissioner Hoping Court Rules For Mandate

Today, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments against the individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance by 2014.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler will be available today from 10 a.m. – noon today for interviews on why the individual mandate is critical to the success of health reform.

“A typical insured family in Washington state already pays nearly $1,000 a year in additional premiums to cover the cost of health care for those without insurance,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “Charity care and bad debt for hospitals, doctors, and other health providers in the state total nearly $1 billion a year.”

Kreidler added that most people in our state – 85 percent – already have health insurance and won’t be impacted by the individual mandate. And of the one million who are uninsured, 850,000 will qualify for either Medicaid or subsidies to purchase coverage in the new health exchange.