Patricia Lynn Murray is an American politician who has served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2023 and the senior United States Senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party,Murray served in the Washington State Senate from 1989 to 1993. She was Washington's first female U.S. senator and is the first woman in American history to hold the position of president pro tempore. Murray is also the youngest senator to occupy the office of president pro tempore in more than five decades. As president pro tempore,Murray is third in the line of succession to the U.S. presidency.
Maria Ellen Cantwell is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party,she served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993,and in the United States House of Representatives from Washington's 1st congressional district from 1993 to 1995.
James Adelbert McDermott is an American politician and psychiatrist who was the U.S. representative for Washington's 7th congressional district from 1989 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The 7th District includes most of Seattle,Vashon Island,Tukwila,Burien,Shoreline,Lake Forest Park,Lynnwood,Mountlake Terrace,Woodway,and Edmonds. He served on the House Ways and Means Committee and was a member of the House Progressive Caucus. He was formerly the committee chairman,then in 1995,ranking minority member on the House Ethics Committee. On January 4,2016,he announced that he would not be seeking another congressional term.
Jay Robert Inslee is an American politician,lawyer,and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012,and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He is the longest-serving current governor in the United States.
Michael Edward Lowry was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended abruptly following a sexual misconduct allegation made against him by his deputy press secretary,Susanne Albright. A member of the Democratic Party,Lowry served as a United States Representative from Washington's 7th congressional district from 1979 to 1989.
Christine Gregoire is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004,and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington. Gregoire chaired the National Governors Association for the 2010–2011 term. She also served on the Governors' Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington,D.C.
Michael Alan Hatch is an American politician and lawyer. He was the Attorney General of Minnesota from 1999 to 2007,commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce from 1983 to 1989,and chair of the Minnesota DFL Party from 1980 to 1983.
John Morrison is an American attorney and politician who served as the elected Montana State Auditor and Insurance and Securities Commissioner from 2001 to 2009. Morrison has been a leader in health insurance policy and litigation and has handled prominent legal cases. He is the senior partner at Morrison Sherwood Wilson Deola,a public interest law firm based in Helena,Montana. In 2006,he ran unsuccessfully against Jon Tester in the Montana Democratic primary for the United States Senate nomination.
Premera Blue Cross is a not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield licensed health insurance company based in Mountlake Terrace,Washington,United States. It sells health insurance plans under the Blue Cross license in Washington state except Clark County and under both of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licenses in Alaska.
In the United States,health insurance helps pay for medical expenses through privately purchased insurance,social insurance,or a social welfare program funded by the government. Synonyms for this usage include "health coverage","health care coverage",and "health benefits". In a more technical sense,the term "health insurance" is used to describe any form of insurance providing protection against the costs of medical services. This usage includes both private insurance programs and social insurance programs such as Medicare,which pools resources and spreads the financial risk associated with major medical expenses across the entire population to protect everyone,as well as social welfare programs like Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program,which both provide assistance to people who cannot afford health coverage.
The public health insurance option,also known as the public insurance option or the public option,is a proposal to create a government-run health insurance agency that would compete with other private health insurance companies within the United States. The public option is not the same as publicly funded health care,but was proposed as an alternative health insurance plan offered by the government. The public option was initially proposed for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,but was removed after independent Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman threatened a filibuster.
Randi L. Becker is an American politician of the Republican Party. She served as a member of the Washington Senate,representing the 2nd Legislative District from 2009 to 2021. She was first elected to the State Senate in 2008. In March 2020,Becker announced that she would not seek reelection to an additional term in the state Senate.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA),formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and colloquially known as Obamacare,is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23,2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment,it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
Elections held in the state of Washington on November 6,2012. A nonpartisan blanket primary was held on August 7,2012.
The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner was created in 1889–90,and became a separate agency in 1907 with an elected commissioner. The current commissioner is Mike Kreidler,a Democrat first elected in 2000 and reelected five times.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Washington on November 8,2016. The primary was held on August 2.
Michael John Pellicciotti is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 24th Washington State Treasurer since 2021. He previously served as a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives for the 30th legislative district,which includes Federal Way,Algona,Auburn,Pacific,Milton,and Des Moines from 2017 to 2021.
Hilary S. Franz is an American politician and conservation attorney serving as the 16th Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party who was previously a member of the Bainbridge Island city council and was elected as commissioner in 2016.
General elections were held in the U.S. state of Washington on November 3,2020. A primary was held on August 4. This election cycle is notable as it was only the second in state history in which Democrats won the top three statewide elections by double digits. The first was the 1936 election,in the middle of the Great Depression. As of 2023,this was the last time Republicans won any statewide election in Washington.
The first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States was announced by the state of Washington on January 21,2020. Washington made the first announcement of a death from the disease in the U.S. on February 29 and later announced that two deaths there on February 26 were also due to COVID-19. Until mid-March,Washington had the highest absolute number of confirmed cases and the highest number per capita of any state in the country,until it was surpassed by New York state on April 10,2020. Many of the deceased were residents of a nursing home in Kirkland,an Eastside suburb of Seattle in King County.
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