Those were among the key findings in a preliminary report prepared by the state Insurance Commissioner’s Office delivered to the Legislature this month. The report details how mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry are likely contributing to accelerated health care costs, with more of the same expected in the years ahead unless significant changes are made in the state’s health care systems.
Even before the economic disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care costs grew at nearly double the rate of inflation, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner found in its analysis of the commercial health insurance market through which over 42% of Washingtonians are insured.
While Washington has one of the highest coverage rates in the nation, with just 6% of residents uninsured, “rising health care costs have created a growing and persistent health care affordability challenge,” Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in a statement.
