Alliance for a Healthy WA was co-founded in Dec. 2018 by Bevin McLeod and Nicole Gomez in response to the clear need for streamlining advocacy with healthcare policy at the state level and beyond. As such, AHW was perfectly positioned to take the lead on advocacy in winning the Pathway to Universal Healthcare Workgroup in the 2019 legislature, as well as supporting and advocating on other important health legislation such as Reproductive Healthcare for All, the American Indian Health Parity Act, state behavioral health systems reform, the HEAL Act, Cascade Care, and several more. While this is a fledgling organization, it already has significant wins, and with continued outreach and fundraising efforts it could become a leader in both the state and the region on moving the needle on systemic change within our fragmented and unsustainable system.
Looking forward into the coming year, AHW is looking to support policy proposals like expanding medicaid to age 26, developing a state-based plan for our undocumented population, expanding dental coverage and access to adult medicaid recipients, and providing recommendations to the legislature on developing a universal healthcare system through its research on the workgroup established in the Pathway to Universal Healthcare bill.