The Legislature is scheduled to conclude its regular legislative session this Sunday, April 28, but because it has been unable to complete all of its business to date, Governor Inslee is expected to call it back for one or more Special Sessions, most likely after a short break.  At this point, there is a $900 million divide between the Democratic House budget and the Majority Coalition Senate budget resulting from the House support for closing tax breaks and extending certain taxes in order to support K-12…

This was prepared by Amnon Shoenfeld, Director of King County Mental Health, Chemical Abuse and Dependency Services Division, DCHS

The House, Senate and Governor’s budgets all book savings from Medicaid expansion based upon numbers of new people enrolled in Medicaid and savings to the system resulting from integration of medical, mental health, prevention services resulting in less costly outpatient visits.  These savings assumptions, however, may prove inaccurate for several reasons.

Mental Health

The Governor’s budget and the House and Senate budgets assume that the…

Governor Inslee released his budget priorities for “Working Washington” on March 28, the state Senate released their biennial budget on April 3, and the House released its budget on April 11.  The budgets differ significantly in support for housing and human services but have overlap in education.  With all budgets formally released, active negotiation among the three parties now begins on the FY 2013-15 biennial budget.

All three budgets emphasize education including some early learning but deal with housing and basic needs differently.  The Governor proposes…

United Way of King County’s Hunger Action Week is March 25-30th and there are a ton of ways to get involved. Many Hunger Action Week participants have gone beyond signing up to receive Hunger Action Week e-mails and have pledged to take the Food Stamp Challenge and eat on less than $7 a day.

Staying within the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) budget is hard, to say the least. For many of those participating in the Food Stamp Challenge for Hunger Action Week,…

As anyone who has utilized Basic Food (Washington’s food stamp program) can tell you, it is difficult to strategically put together meals that both taste good and fill you up. It’s even more challenging to make tasty and sizable meals that meet your nutritional needs—using roughly $7 per day for a household of one. While addressing hunger is the main goal of federal nutrition programs such as SNAP, satisfying nutritional needs should also be a concern.

As found by the USDA Healthy Eating Index, obesity…

AmeriCorps transformed my life. As a college graduate, I lacked a clear vision of the contribution I wanted to make to my community. I joined AmeriCorps, also known as the domestic Peace Corps, and spent two years tutoring and mentoring students in Federal Way. Engaging with Federal Way’s Latino community inspired me to spend a subsequent year as a volunteer English teacher in Chile and solidified my career path in public service. Today, service remains a central part of my professional and personal…

This blog was prepared by Mickie Newby, Public Policy intern at United Way and University of Washigton graduate student in the School of Social Work

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will significantly expand insurance coverage to all Americans through two major mechanisms: the Health Benefit Exchange (HBE) and Medicaid expansion. This much-needed step toward providing more equal access to health care through affordable coverage does not go without challenges.  Many individuals who become eligible for coverage through the ACA may not be aware of their…

United Ways of Washington’s Lobby Day on February 7 was a resounding success!  United Way of King County took a group of 27 people to Olympia, including 15 volunteers and 12 staff to meet with 24 state legislators representing districts throughout King County.  Volunteers were board members, former board members, impact council members, people from Workplace Giving campaigns and emerging leaders.

The main points emphasized during the day were:

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A great deal of attention has been paid to the Affordable Care Act requirement that most everyone must have insurance coverage beginning in January 2014.  While this overall goal refers in large part to linking people to affordable health care plans through the Health Benefit Exchange and enrolling them in Medicaid expansion, there have been a number of other insurance changes required under the Affordable Care Act that have already expanded health insurance coverage.

In King County alone, about 736,000 individuals no longer face lifetime…

There are a number of efforts underway in Washington State to improve access to health care benefits as well as implement the the Affordable Care Act:

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