The Real Rossi

We Can’t Trust Rossi on Healthcare

Rossi’s Healthcare Plan FOR WASHINGTON: “Don’t Get Sick”

Rossi Voted Against Creating the Children's Health Insurance Program. In the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Rossi voted against creating the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a program that would expand health care coverage to about 10,000 Washington children through federal matching funds. Washington and Wyoming were the only states that had not signed onto the program. (SB 5416, 2/24/99; Seattle PI, 3/26/99; AP, 3/11/99)

Rossi's 2003 "Signature Budget" Threw 46,000 Low-Income Kids off Health Care. "Perhaps the most controversial provision is a proposal to eliminate coverage for an estimated 46,000 children in the state Medicaid program… But in order to help restore some of Locke's cuts, the Senate Republicans want to save about $100 million by dramatically overhauling the state's Medicaid program that currently serves nearly 600,000 children. The GOP plan would lower the income-eligibility level, leaving an estimated 46,000 kids without coverage. Rossi's budget also counts on the state getting permission from the federal government to charge monthly premiums as high as $40." (Seattle Times, 4/2/2003)

Rossi Supported Bush Veto of the Federal SCHIP Bill. "There's a children's health care expansion bill pending in D.C. that President Bush has already vetoed once—and now a new one is coming his way. If the bill fails it could undermine legislation passed in Olympia last session that expanded children's health care coverage. Rossi supports Bush's veto. His campaign told me this morning that expanding coverage to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is what the federal bill (and our state bill) does, is the "wrong approach," explaining: "the majority of new children that are going to be coming on are either illegal or they currently have health insurance from the private sector." (Seattle Stranger, 10/30/07)

Non-Partisan Children's Advocates Say Rossi's Position Mirrors Bush's. "Jon Gould, deputy director of the Children's Alliance, a statewide children's advocacy organization, said Rossi's comments 'appear to be directly in line with President Bush's position and in direct contrast to Washington state's law that passed with bipartisan support.' Rossi declined to comment on Bush's veto, saying, 'I'm not going there.'" (Seattle PI, 10/9/07)

Dino Rossi and George Bush's Opposition to Children's Health Care Puts them at Odds with Both the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. While George Bush, Dino Rossi and the far-right wing of the Republican party oppose expanding SCHIP, experts agree that the program provides vital services and that Bush's veto is harmful to children. When Bush vetoed the passage of SCHIP, Jay Berkelhamer, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics said "Today's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will have a serious negative impact on low-income children and their families across this nation.” Edward Langston, chair of the American Medical Association's board of trustees, also supported expansion of SCHIP, saying “The number of uninsured kids has increased by nearly 1 million over the past year, and action must be taken to reverse this trend. The AMA strongly urges members of Congress from both political parties to stand on the side of America's parents and children by voting to override the veto.” [Associated Press, 10/3/07]

Dino Rossi Parrots George Bush's Talking Points on Children's Health Care. Dino Rossi contends that if children's health care were expanded "the majority of new children that are going to be coming on are either illegal or they currently have health insurance from the private sector." George Bush takes a virtually identical stance. According to the Bush White House, "[SCHIP] Would move millions of American children who now have private health insurance into government-run health care," and “…relax protections against enrolling ineligible individuals, including illegal immigrants.” [The Stranger, 10/30/07, White House Press Release, 9/21/07]

Dino Rossi's SCHIP Claims Disingenuous. Rossi claims that "the majority of new children that are going to be coming on are either illegal or they currently have health insurance from the private sector." But according to reports from the Kaiser Family Foundation, even legal immigrants "are ineligible for Medicaid or SCHIP during their first five years in the U.S," and "Regardless of their length of residence in the U.S., undocumented and temporary immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid and SCHIP." What SCHIP does cover, no matter immigration status, is prenatal care. [Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid and the Uninsured, April, 2006, Revised 8/29/07; The Stranger, 10/30/07]

Rossi Sat on Hands Instead of Voting to Protect Children From Toxic Chemicals.
Rossi claims that “I am going to do everything I can to protect the most vulnerable people in our society,” but he refused to even vote on a bill creating the Children’s Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council. The council would have met several times a year to “Review and comment on existing laws, rules, regulations, and standards to ensure that they adequately protect the health of children from environmental hazards.” The legislation also recognized that “…children in the state face many preventable exposures to environmental hazards in their schools, homes, and communities. In certain cases children are at greater risk than adults for exposure to and possible illness from environmental hazards…The legislature further finds that higher rates of poverty place children of ethnic and minority communities at disproportionate risk for environmental exposures due to inadequate housing, poor nutrition, and limited access to health care.” Four days later, in the face of overwhelming support for the bill, Rossi bucked and voted yes on the exact same legislation. [SB 6356, Rossi – Not voting, 2/12/02; SB 6356, Rossi – Yea, 2/16/02; Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, 1/3/2008]

Rossi Opposed a Preferred Drug List that Would Save Money.
Rossi opposed letting the state use a drug formulary similar to what private healthinsurance plans use to save money. "The House version, which Rossi has blocked in the Senate, would
create a 'preferred drug list' for state purchasing, similar to the formularies used by most private health plans. The most effective drugs in a category would compete to get on the state's preferred drug list; doctors
would be able to prescribe medications not on the list if they thought it was necessary." ["Prescription drug bill may move forward in Senate," Associated Press, 4/15/03]

Rossi's Refusal to Consider the Preferred Drug List Put Him At Odds With Seniors.
"More than 1,800 calls from AARP members who support drug-purchasing reform have come in during the past 10 days, many to Rossi and Senate Majority Leader James West, R-Spokane." ["Pressure increases for drug-bill action," Seattle Times, 4/12/03]

Rossi Opposed the Patients Bill of Rights.
Republican Dino Rossi voted against a bill to help patients who were denied health care coverage. The bill also had provisions to better protect patient privacy. [ESSB 5587, 3/11/99, 5/19/99]

Rossi Opposed Insurance Coverage of Birth Control.
Rossi voted against a bill to require health insurance companies to cover birth control pills if they also covered other prescription drugs. [SB 5512, 3/9/99]

Rossi Increased Taxes on Nursing Home Beds.
In 2003, "Rossi voted to increase liquor taxes by 42 cents a liter, nursing home bed taxes by $200 a month and, as part of a transportation improvement package, he voted to hike the vehicle sales tax, gas tax and trucking fees." ["Candidates both have singed pants," The News Tribune, 10/29/04]

Rossi Would Prohibit Patients From Recovering For Medical Malpractice Injuries.
Rossi would prevent injured patients from recovering the full amount that a jury awards for their injury. When asked if he would favor capping the amount that juries can
award for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases, "he says caps are the best way to lower malpractice insurance rates that doctors claim are making it tough for them to stay in practice. He promises that on his first
day in office, he'd submit legislation to cap such awards." ["Gubernatorial candidates positions on key issues," The News Tribune, 9/11/04]

Rossi Proposed Cutting Family Planning by 60 Percent and Closing Rural Clinics.
In 2003, Rossi's signature budget slashed family planning in rural areas. "Planned Parenthood said the plan cuts the Department of Health's family planning program by 60 percent. The $6 million cut could force some rural clinics to close, said President Gwen Caplin." ["Democrats, interest groups blast Senate GOP budget," Associated Press, 4/3/03]

Rossi Thinks Poor People Aren't Poor Enough to Get State-Subsidized Health Care.
Rossi looked to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, forcing them to jump through extra hoops to get health care. "Rossi said his budget would use the savings from the enrollment
freeze to hire more workers to verify whether people who sign up for state-subsidized health care are truly poor enough to qualify." ["Supplemental budget rewrite starts cuts now," The News Tribune, 1/28/03]

Rossi opposed the Family Leave Act.
Republican Dino Rossi voted against extending the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows caregivers and family members to take time off work to care for a newborn child or sick family member. [SB 6426, 2/15/02]

Rossi Voted to Close the Fircrest School for People with Developmental Disabilities.
Continuing to balance his 2003 budget on the backs of the most vulnerable citizens, Rossi voted to close the Fircrest School, one of five regional residential centers for people with developmental disabilities.[ESB 5971, 3/14/03]