Washington Governor Signs Bills Repealing Health Care Reform Law

Gov. Mike Lowry has signed measures virtually repealing the state’s health care reform law, saying congressional inaction and a powerful business lobby forced his hand.

Lowry on Monday signed three bills that basically kill the law and its goal of bringing affordable health insurance to all by 1999. The 1993 law, which Lowry once called a model for the nation, was the same “managed competition” plan that President Clinton failed to push through Congress last year.

The legislation wiping out most of the law’s major elements passed the Legislature last month after hard lobbying by business and insurance interests. The signing ceremony was jammed by smiling representatives from companies ranging from Boeing to Aetna.

Lowry said the state law was crippled by congressional refusal last year to allow the state to require all employers to pay half the cost of health insurance for workers by mid-1999. Without business involvement, the financing scheme was gone, and so was the main element of cost control--a uniform system whose size would act to hold down costs.