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My heart goes out to the families who lost their homes and possessions in the Spokane Complex Fires in early August. The damage from the most devastating fire in state history is significant — 10,000 acres burned, 67,000 people were evacuated and more than 850 buildings were destroyed. The Spokane County Assessor estimated the economic damage at more than $1 billion and our own initial data call tallies insured losses at $772 million.
My office remains committed to helping wildfire survivors through the claims process. We’re hosting in-person wildfire claims workshops on the second Monday of each month in the Spokane area, with video recordings available online afterwards.
In the immediate aftermath, I issued a pair of emergency orders, which were tied to Governor Ferguson’s emergency declaration:
- One allows fire survivors to get a one-time refill or a prescription before the expiration or waiting period and allows a 60-day health insurance premium grace period. It also prohibits insurers from cancelling or nonrenewing policies for non-payment of premiums.
- The other orders a 45-day grace period for home and auto insurance premiums for wildfire survivors.
- In addition, I opened registration for out-of-state adjusters to help expedite the claims process.
I also sent members of our Consumer Outreach and Disaster Response (CODR) program to staff the Disaster Assistance Center at Shadle Park High School as soon as it opened, as well as several town halls in the area. They talked to 300 people on their first day of action and 500 total the first week. I also encouraged insurance companies to send representatives to the DAC to provide immediate help to anyone with questions about their coverage and how to access their additional living expense benefits. Fourteen companies were on hand with their catastrophic event teams to provide direct help to people with questions about their claims and, in some cases, walk away with a check.
As people work through their recovery, we’ll continue to help — while doing what we can to ensure this level of recovery isn’t necessary again. We’re fine-tuning our legislative priorities for the 2027 session and one of our most important bills is the Strengthen Washington Homes program.
This voluntary grant program would help people in the most at-risk areas retrofit their homes to be more defensible against wildfire. It’s based on the Wildfire Prepared Homes designation from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, which is the gold standard for insurance companies. These are research-backed standards that show a company the home is a safer investment.
The bill also specifies that wildfire risk can’t be the sole reason for a policy to be cancelled or nonrenewed if they’ve met the Wildfire Prepared Home standards, which gives people a step to make sure their coverage stays in place.
The Spokane Complex Fires were tragic and traumatic, and highlighted the impacts of climate change and the need for stronger efforts in mitigating wildfire risk. Building back to IBHS standards is the right first step to protect against this level of damage in the future.
Addressing increasing health insurance rates
As I detailed in a blog post earlier this month, my office approved an average 22.2% increase in rates for plans on the individual health insurance market.
The approval wasn’t made hastily. Our actuaries review these rate requests over the course of months and are required to approve rates if they’re justified. And while the rates are justified, the for-profit healthcare system is not.
Three straight years of double-digit increases means significant sticker shock for the hundreds of thousands of people in our state who purchase their health coverage on the exchange. It also means healthier people who are willing to go without insurance are more likely to roll the dice and remove themselves from the insurance pool, meaning those who can’t afford to go without insurance pay more for coverage.
Healthcare is a human right. That was a big part of why I ran for office: to change how we access and pay for healthcare.
I’m committed to fixing the system. The first step is to ensure people can access the routine care they need to stay healthy. I’m developing a proposal to improve access to primary care, which is a move towards revolutionizing how care is delivered in our state. I hope you’ll follow along with our progress and support a new way to keeping ourselves healthy and connected to care.
Podcast updates
I joined our agency podcast, OIC Answers on Insurance, last week to discuss health insurance rates and how our office reviews them. Two members of our actuarial staff joined me to explain the details and nuances of what drives health care costs and our role in the rate review process.
Recent podcast topics also include:
Claim handling rule takes effect Oct. 18
If you file a claim in Washington, you can expect quicker responses, greater transparency, and more fairness from your insurance company. That’s due to our updated claim handling rule.
The new requirements go into effect on Oct. 18 and update the unfair claims settlement practices that haven’t changed since they were first adopted in 1978. The rule:
- Reinforces that any unfair claims practice can violate state law (RCW 48.30.010) by removing qualifying language on the frequency of the violations.
- Establishes more specific timelines and documentation requirements for communication, investigations, denials, and payments.
- Sets detailed standards for auto damage and total loss claims, including inspection requirements, communication standards, data sources for valuations, and how additional damage must be handled.
- Enhances transparency by requiring insurance companies to explain denials, provide policy references, share valuation reports, and disclose data sources used for the valuation of your vehicle.
- Strengthens your right to access your own claim file and requires your insurance company to explain what may be redacted.
Sometimes people are left without a clear idea of their claim process, and these updates address that with a fair process and more transparency for consumers.
‘Shuffle’ and insurance fraud
I hosted a free screening of Ben Flaherty’s film ‘Shuffle’ in August to highlight the evolving landscape of insurance fraud and our efforts to fight it.
The documentary shows a scheme in which clients are cycled through treatment centers, sometimes to the tune of $1 million a year in fraudulent addiction treatment charges. It was an excellent example of how the system is being abused and how that abuse harms some of our most vulnerable people.
I proposed a law earlier this year to modernize our state’s insurance fraud laws and define insurance fraud as its own crime. Billing an insurance company or consumer for services not provided and impersonating others in insurance-related claims or transactions would also be a crime, among other changes.
A new version of that bill, which increases our ability to fight these fraudulent schemes, will be back on the legislative docket in 2027.
Medicare Open Enrollment coming Oct. 15
If you’re enrolled in Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan, your needs, costs and coverage might change from year to year. Medicare Open Enrollment, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, is the time to make your coverage changes.
We’ll be sharing more information and tips as open enrollment gets closer but remember to review your coverage and assess your needs. And if you’ve got questions, contact our SHIBA Program for free, unbiased advice about Medicare.
Online ordering for our free Medicare Open Enrollment Toolkit is now live. Order yours today to help you get ready and stay organized for this year’s Open Enrollment.
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