Julia Perez from Yakima said at Thursday’s news conference that families like hers struggle to afford groceries and pay bills. “H.R. 1 is poised to strip away programs that keep food on the table for millions of families like mine,” the mom of three said in Spanish, which was then relayed in English by a translator. 

Roger Haick worked for 35 years as an ICU and cardiac nurse in Eastern Washington. He said that since the new law passed, Providence Hospital in Chewelah has closed certain services in anticipation of Medicaid cuts. Staff have also left the community for other work.

Faith leaders say food insecurity is growing statewide. Pastor Jan Bolerjack, who leads Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila — a congregation that shelters asylum seekers and runs a food pantry — says food banks can no longer keep up.

"I looked in a bag the other day and it was a jar of chili sauce, two onions and coffee — now tell me how you make a meal out of that," Bolerjack said.

She says donations from partners like Food Lifeline and Northwest Harvest have dropped sharply, leaving families with less and forcing her church to cut back from serving multiple times a week to just once.

Our state health care system is facing big challenges, but the solutions are simple.

Preserve Apple Health access. Keep medications affordable. Pay for telehealth. While you’re at it, protect the financing tools that stabilize safety-net care.

Let health centers do what we do best: solve problems early, in the lowest-cost setting. Let’s stop paying more for worse outcomes. Keep care in clinics, not the ER.