Yet again, MS Activists in Washington State have demonstrated that together we are stronger than MS! More than 65 activists attended our annual State Action Day at the state capitol in Olympia, and conducted nearly 100 visits to their legislators.
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This year's group of MS Activists! |
We brought the stories of people living with MS to our state's elected officials, ensuring they understand the needs of people with MS. Our requests focused on two pieces of legislation, HB 2326 and HB 2445, both of which will improve access to information about our health care insurance and how decisions are made about benefits and care.
Thanks to all of our activists for joining us!
MS Activist Jonathan Sari shares this recap of our annual Washington State Action Day:
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MS Activists ready to take action! |
On a brisk February morning, committed MS Activists from around Washington State met in Olympia to further the cause of Washingtonians
living with MS.
Our legislative agenda for the session was to improve transparency in
our state's health insurance system. As happened each of my prior years, we heard from
expert speakers
who laid out the problems that our proposed legislation was intended
to remedy, along with the outcomes we expected to result from those
remedies. We also were honored to hear a vision for the future outlined by our
Governor Inslee.
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Governor Jay Inslee speaks to the group. |
After the presentations, it was time to speak with our
legislators. For Legislative District 46, those legislators are Senator David Frockt,
Representative Gerry Pollet, and Representative Jessyn Farrell. We did not
manage to secure meetings with Representative Pollet or Senator Frockt, but
Representative Farrell graciously made time to meet with us.
It was my third year attending our State Action Day. This
year, my two compatriots (who had made the hour-long drive from our North Seattle district to the state capitol each of my prior two years) couldn't attend -- so I conducted the visits on my own.
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Jonathan Sari (right) at a legislative meeting last year |
I arrived at Representative Farrell's office fifteen minutes
early. These legislators are busy! While I waited I watched her wrap up a meeting with the fire fighters union and receive a message
from the Speaker of the House -- a request that ended up limiting our meeting time.
Representative Farrell remembered me from our earlier meetings and given our limited time, I kept our request to the basics: I asked for her support for our
bills and explained that we hoped to streamline reporting and improve accountability for health
insurance. She asked some good questions and although I didn't remember all of the specific answers, I
promised to get answers that day. I also shared my personal experience of my own medication denial by my
insurance company. I thanked her for her time, letting her know that I was
following her email newsletter, and let her get to her meeting.
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MS Activists meet with legislative staff. |
I also dropped off
the information packets with Representative Pollet's and Senator Frockt's offices. Before returning home, I reported in to
Linnea, the Chapter's advocacy manager, to request the information to follow up so I could follow up that evening with Rep. Farrell.
I am glad to be a part of the Society's efforts to make
government work better for those of us living with MS.