Washington:

Coverage to All Children

Primary Opposition

Vocal opposition was kept to a minimum because of the large groundswell of support for covering children that had been fostered throughout the state in recent years, as witnessed in polls and focus groups. The opposition that did exist was mostly from those who did not want to spend more money and those who did not want to cover immigrant children.

Some of those opposed to spending more money cited concerns that expanding the program would result in the enrollment of children who already had employer-based coverage. These "crowd-out" concerns were generally addressed through education on the issue and by highlighting provisions in the legislation. The provisions include sliding scale premiums which require families with higher incomes to pay more for coverage and a four-month waiting period which requires children to be uninsured prior to enrollment.

The opposition to covering immigrant children (covered by state-only dollars) was countered by messages such as “kids are kids” and “we don’t play politics with kids” and by keeping coverage for immigrant children couched within the broader proposal to cover all children.