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Whole Washington is a statewide universal healthcare advocacy organization in
Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
that advocates for universal
single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...
for Washington and the
United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
. Whole Washington is a
501(c)(4) organization A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...
and has campaigns for statewide single payer healthcare in Washington via both the state legislature and statewide ballot initiative. It is also a supporter of single payer at the federal level through Medicare for All as introduced into the US Congress by
Pramila Jayapal Pramila Jayapal (born September 21, 1965) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents most of Seattle, as well as some suburban areas of King County. Jayapal ...
in the
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and
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.


History

Whole Washington was founded in 2017 in order to run a ballot measure campaign to legally establish a universal single payer healthcare plan for Washington state. In 2018 Erin Georgen filed a ballot initiative to the people (I-1600) to establish a statewide single payer healthcare plan called the Whole Washington Health Trust. The campaign was entirely volunteer run and collected over 200,000 signatures which was short of the necessary number to put the initiative on the ballot. In 2021 Senator Bob Hasegawa ( WA-11) introduced a legislative version of the initiative into the Washington Senate as SB-5204 where it currently has seven co-sponsors. The bill has never been given a hearing, vote, or been introduced into the Washington House of Representatives. In 2021 Whole Washington ran an updated version of I-1600 as an initiative to the legislature (I-1362) but the campaign was suspended in August 2021 due to public health concerns during the spike of the Delta variant of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
. In 2022, campaign director Andre Stackhouse filed I-1471 on behalf of Whole Washington but the initiative did not ultimately collect enough signatures to make the ballot.


Structure

Whole Washington is a
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...
nonprofit organization which lobbies at the local, state, and federal levels of government on healthcare issues, especially the advocacy of single payer healthcare. The board of directors includes retired state senator Maralyn Chase.


Policy proposal

Whole Washington has since 2017 run multiple ballot initiatives and had multiple bills introduced into the Washington state legislature. While there have been variations between those policy proposals, they have all been different versions of statewide single payer healthcare for Washington state in which a public nonprofit insurance plan (called the Washington Health Trust in the latest version of the policy proposal) would be established by the Washington state government that all residents of the state would be eligible for. The plan's coverage includes dental, hearing, vision, reproductive care and other healthcare services not covered by traditional Medicare.


Polling

In 2017,
Northwest Progressive Institute The Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) is a left wing think tank based in Redmond, Washington, founded in 2003 and incorporated in 2005. It uses technology, public policy research, and political advocacy to advance progressive causes in the ...
(NPI) commissioned and released a poll of 887 likely Washington state voters via landline conducted by
Public Policy Polling Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American polling firm affiliated with the Democratic Party. Founded in 2001 by businessman Dean Debnam, the firm is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Debnam died in 2024. Tom Jensen serves as the firm's directo ...
. The poll results showed 64 percent of those polled supported expanding Medicare to provide universal health coverage to all Americans—with 50 percent strongly supporting it and 14 percent somewhat supporting it. The 32 percent that opposed the initiative was broken down into 9 percent somewhat opposed and 23 percent strongly opposed. Of those polled, 4 percent were undecided or not sure.


Selected Endorsements

Whole Washington's proposal The Washington Health Trust has been endorsed by a combination of grassroots organizations, former and current legislators, city councils, and county and LD organizations within the state Democratic party. Some of the endorsers include: * Marko Liias - a Washington state senator *
Kshama Sawant Kshama Sawant ( ; born October 17, 1973) is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She was a member of Socialist Alternative as the first and only member of the party to date to be ...
- a member of the
Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...
*
Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...
* Liz Berry (politician) - a representative in the Washington House of Representatives


See also

*
Single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...
*
Universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...
*
Physicians for a National Health Program Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) is an advocacy organization of more than 20,000 American physicians, Medical education in the United States, medical students, and health professionals that supports a universal, comprehensive sing ...
*
Healthcare-NOW! Healthcare-NOW! is a non-profit grassroots coalition in support of the single-payer health care movement for the United States. Healthcare-NOW!'s stated goal is to implement the Medicare for All Act. History Healthcare-NOW! was founded in 2004 ...
*
National Nurses United National Nurses United (NNU) is the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States. With more than 225,000 members, it is the farthest-reaching union and professional association of registered nurses in the U.S. Founded in 2009 t ...


References

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External links


Official website

Whole Washington
on
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Washington Universal Healthcare Coverage Initiative (#1362)
on
Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...
2017 establishments in Washington (state) Healthcare reform advocacy groups in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state) Organizations established in 2017 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations