Tagged: Health and Medicine

It’s official. Washington has reached a milestone in creating its own health exchange. Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Washington is among six states to make significant progress in developing an online market for health plans.

Next fall, Washington’s health exchange is expected to be up and running. The exchange is an online market for health plans. Right now the Health Exchange Board is trying to figure out how to pay for itself. On Friday, the Board is considering different options.

Public health experts are now recommending that pregnant women get the vaccine for whooping cough during pregnancy. The recommendation is in response to the growing outbreak of the disease in the U.S.

Washington state’s whooping cough epidemic continues to grow. State health officials say the latest number of reported cases has topped 4,300.