Kaiser Media Fellowships 2014 Washington Site Visits

In June 2014, the Foundation invited a group of journalists with a strong focus on health policy and state health reform to participate in a week-long fellowship program focused on how the Affordable Care Act is shaping Washington State’s health care environment. The site visits in Seattle gave journalists the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts and stakeholders, including leading State health policy officials. The program covered a range of issues including enrollment in the WA Health Benefit Exchange and ongoing website-related challenges; the unexpectedly high enrollment in WA Apple Health, the state Medicaid plan, and implications for providers and community clinics; the adequacy of insurance plan provider networks; and zip code-based health, economic and racial disparities.

2014 Washington Site Visit Agenda

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured published a fact sheet that summarizes Washington’s Health Care Landscape. The Foundation also has a State Health Insurance Marketplace Profile on Washington, which is continually updated to reflect the latest information on the state’s health insurance marketplace implementation.

Information in English, Chinese and Vietnamese about enrolling in health insurance, at one of the International Community Health Services clinics in Seattle.

Participants

Valerie Bauman, health care reporter, The Puget Sound Business Journal

Kyle Cheney, healthcare reporter, Politico

“-Challenges lurk behind Washington state’s successful health exchange,” Politico Pro, June 16, 2014

Jonathan Cohn, senior editor, The New Republic

Carol Eisenberg, senior editor, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.

Beth Kaiman, assistant metro editor, The Seattle Times

Sarah Kliff, senior editor, Vox Media

-“Washington state loves Obamacare — and still has challenges making it work,” Vox Media, June 15, 2014

Noam Levey, health policy reporter, Washington bureau, The Los Angeles Times

Shefali Luthra, web reporter, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.

Jason Millman, Wonkblog health reporter, The Washington Post

-“Obamacare struggles, even where it’s succeeding,” The Washington Post, June 16, 2014

-“A reminder that not everyone loves more transparency for health-care prices,” The Washington Post, June 23, 2014

Carol Ostrom, health reporter, The Seattle Times

Margot Sanger-Katz, Upshot health care correspondent, The New York Times

Sarah Varney, staff writer, KFF Health News, San Francisco, CA

-“How a state’s choice on Medicaid expansion affects hospitals,” PBS NewsHour, December 26, 2014

Joanne Silberner, freelance health/science reporter, Seattle

Jim Simon, assistant managing editor/metro editor, The Seattle Times

Lisa Stiffler, health reporter, The Seattle Times

Mark Watanabe, technology editor, The Seattle Times

John Webster, staff writer/editorial operations director, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA

Jeff Young, health care reporter, The Huffington Post, Washington, D.C.