Rep. Abbarno opposes measure that could limit access to healthcare in rural Washington
Feb 22, 2024
Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, spoke out against Senate Bill 5241, which could limit access to healthcare, particularly in rural communities. It could also have adverse effects on small surgery centers and religious institutions.
The bill was voted out of committee along party lines.
most of the discussion today I think has
been around uh protecting uh rural my
rural neighbors and and healthc care
providers and you know as a as a
resident of a a rural community a
representing a rural community and using
rural health care and I always read uh
policies like this aimed at helping
little me my family my rural community
and I read it just a little more closely
and and again I'm going to be a no vote
um I think highlighting social policy
under the guise of protecting rural
Health Care generally is not just
misguided um there's going to be
unintended consequences in in in less
Health Care uh less family practitioners
for for my children and and and me and
my wife uh and my neighbors um there
were amendments that I think that would
uh take this policy out of the hands of
the Puget Sound those uh policy makers
and Olympia and put it in the hands of
healthc care providers
in the rural
communities um folks uh in the most
vulnerable communities uh with the
threat of potentially having um a larger
health care provider come in uh buy out
a smaller health care provider and then
not provide those services that really
are a public good for many of us uh and
we had an opportunity to do that um and
and and sadly we didn't um and and this
policy um I don't think actually
protects uh those that um that uh it's
intended to protect so I'll be a no vote