What They’re Watching: Teresa Mosqueda

Teresa Mosqueda, political and strategic campaign director for the Washington State Labor Counsel, joins us in this edition of What They’re Watching to discuss maintaining coverage for all Washingtonians.

In the first week of January we’ve seen the real and potential change to the Affordable Care Act on the horizon. And so what I’m watching is to see how the conversation’s evolved over the next three weeks in the federal level. But what I’m really watching as well is what are the opportunities that we have right here in Washington State to codify some of the amazing bipartisan approaches that we’ve taken to implementing the Affordable Care Act. We have the ability to codify and protect the pieces of the Affordable Care Act that we know have worked, that they’ve been successful for families and individuals, and that we’ve created a real functioning implementation system here in Washington State, which has been good for the industry as well as for the people who needed coverage.

And while federal funding may be a question mark, we know there’s not going to be overhaul immediately, so what can we do creatively to pass legislation at the state level, find resources, makes sure it’s sustainable so that we keep everybody covered and at least there’s an option for health coverage. If we start unraveling the Affordable Care Act right now we know there’s going to be consequences not just for individuals, but for the community, for business and Washington State as whole. So it’s incumbent upon us to come together to really find solutions at the state level.