Hinkle to focus on health care in 2006 legislative session

Legislator plans to bring competition, choices to state

OLYMPIA — Rep. Bill Hinkle, 13th District, feels the majority of legislators are heading down the wrong road when it comes to health care, and will continue working on number of bills in the coming session to bring competition and choice back to the state.

Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, will again serve as the ranking Republican on the Health Care Committee, and argues that Democratic strategies over the last 12 years have driven health care providers out of the state and left fewer choices for families.

"The state cannot take over health care, we cannot afford it," Hinkle said, adding that health care spending has reached 28 percent of total state spending, a figure he said continues to rise.

Hinkle argued that Democratic ideas are too regulated, and said the state needs to open up markets to bring competition for health care back to Washington.

One of the bills Hinkle is working on would bring tax credits to health care providers who update their records systems in favor of electronic medical records. The bill proposes a business and operations tax credit of up to $10,000 for the purchase of information technology equipment that meets state requirements.

"What we're trying to do is we're trying to find a way to incentivize practices moving toward electronic medical records," he said of the legislation, arguing that the legislation would create incentives for doctors in practice.

Initiative 330 failed when it went to voters in November, but Hinkle said the proposal could see a resurgence in a different form this spring. I-330 would have put limitations on medical malpractice lawsuits. Hinkle said a new bill will not aim to cap overall damages, but limit the amount that goes to plaintiffs and attorneys with the remainder going to a state fund to be specifically used for uncompensated care.

"I don't think the issue needs to go away, I think we need to clean it up," Hinkle said.

Hinkle said the plan would discipline the doctors who practice less than standard care, but also do away with what he called the lottery mentality among plaintiffs.

Hinkle is also working on a Medicaid reform bill that would provide health savings accounts that he said would allow people to put money away tax-free for approved for services like doctor visits. He said the program will allow people to still have money put aside to help them once they get off the Medicaid rolls.

"Health savings accounts allow you to take money away for approved health expenditures," Hinkle said of the plan.

He argued that the Legislature's role should be to create a climate of healthy competition, and said the medical laws make it difficult to recruit physicians in the state.

"Rather than the governor's approach, which continues to hand over more of our health care choices to state government, Republicans favor a competitive, consumer-driven health care system that allows individuals to take responsibility for their own health care choices," Hinkle said.

The state's health care plan for Hinkle should be based on three performance indicators: will it bring insurance providers to Washington, will it recruit and retain doctors throughout the state, and will it change the state's health care culture?

Hinkle has argued those indicators will bring prices down and bring improved access to doctors. His view is that responsibility for health care choices remains with the individual and that the state offer incentives for people to make healthy choices about their health care providers.

In the session that begins next week, Hinkle will also sit on the Children and Family Services and Appropriations Committees.

Among other bills Hinkle is working on with legislators is expansion of the recent judicial reform bill. The bill currently being worked on would require an majority affirmation vote of judges in general elections even if they run unopposed.

"I think it's time we bring the judicial branch of government in check," Hinkle said. "Whether they have an opponent or not, they have to have a reaffirm vote."

He again wants to put the focus on giving both all-terrain vehicles more access to public lands, and is also working on a separate bill that would prevent stem cell research from being performed through the biotech fund established by the state.

On the business front, Hinkle said work has to be done on the minimum wage, a rising wage he said has driven businesses out of Washington.

Being in the minority, Hinkle said his job is to just get the word out to his constituents about plans being proposed in the Legislature.

"What our job is to try and get the message out how those policies actually effect you," he said.