The Rural Health Transformation Program will distribute $100M annually to each state for five years in response to more than $990B in Medicaid cuts.

Washington residents will be able to access the updated COVID-19 vaccines without an individual prescription under a new standing order the state Department of Health issued Thursday. The order follows the federal approval of certain COVID-19 vaccines only for those with certain risk factors. Under the order, most residents will be able to get the updated forms of COVID-19 vaccines at a Washington pharmacy or clinic without a prescription. The DOH says the vaccine is covered by most private ins

Organizers in the north central Washington Republican stronghold want to call attention to how recent cuts could hurt the region’s poorest residents.

The court-mandated legislative district map for Washington that created a new Latino-majority voting district in Central Washington’s 14th District will stay intact under a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals filed Wednesday. The three-judge panel stated that a group of conservative Latino voters, which included Jose Trevino, a Yakima County resident who ran for Congress in 2022 and state Rep. Alex Ybarra (R-Quincy) of the 13th Legislative District,  did not demonstrate that the new map, adopte

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has joined attorneys general and a governor from 16 other states to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to remove some restrictions on mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions, which they say make it burdensome to prescribe and provide the drug to patients. The attorneys general in the 15 states and District of Columbia, along with Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, filed a citizen petition, which is the formal process for requesting FDA cha

Organizers are focusing on ways for residents to push their officials to act after the “Big Beautiful Bill” gutted $990B in federal health care funding.

Voters in Yakima will decide in November whether to authorize a $6 million levy to cover a sizable portion of the city’s anticipated 2026 budget deficit, preventing deep cuts in public safety and recreation services. The Yakima City Council voted 4-3 in late July to bring the levy referendum to voters in the general election ballot. The vote came after Council members considered several options to address the $9 million deficit, including covering it entirely through budget cuts. The levy requ

While U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is getting heat for his vote to pass the bill, he’s now highlighting how it will help fund some agricultural programs.

As hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians face potentially losing health coverage, hospital officials race to prevent service cuts and closures.

In 2024, Washington employers filled nearly 36,000 agriculture jobs through the program. But both farmers and labor advocates say reforms are needed.

Five years ago, employees at seven fruit-packing houses walked out to raise awareness of pandemic safety issues. Now they reflect on the aftermath.

GOP representatives say tax cuts will benefit working families and small businesses, while Democrats decry massive cuts to federal health, food programs.

The second city in state history to do so, officials made the decision after months of mediation and say it’s the most “sustainable resolution.”

The head of Washington state’s marketplace for health insurance plans warned that a new federal rule to narrow the enrollment window will adversely affect people’s ability to get the insurance required by the Affordable Care Act.  Under the federal rule, which would go into effect in about two months, the open enrollment period for the 2027 plan year would end on Dec. 31, 2026, shortening it from past enrollment periods. The open enrollment period for the 2026 plan year would be unchanged from

The City of Cle Elum may return to considering bankruptcy, claiming mediation talks with a Seattle-based developer have broken down.  The city, population of about 2,200, has been on the hook for $22.3 million — five times its annual general-fund budget — after an arbitrator ruled in November that the city violated a 2011 contract by causing delays in the development of Ederra. a new community of 1,000 houses. The city entered mediation with developer Sean Northrop and his LLC City Heights Hol

Last month the Trump administration clawed back awarded grants for several “tech hubs,” including the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade would drastically reduce health care access in rural areas, several Eastern Washington medical providers and government officials warned at a press conference on Thursday. Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray had invited medical providers, workers and government officials from Central and Eastern Washington, an area that is more dependent on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income people and those

Gov. Bob Ferguson promised to fight federal legislation that would bring “draconian cuts” to Medicaid, the government-funded insurance program, after it passed the U.S. House early Wednesday. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a mix of tax cuts and cuts to several government programs. That includes a reduction of $700 billion in Medicaid payments over the next decade. Democratic politicians, including Ferguson, are ringing the alarm bell on the House vote, stating the negative impact on h

Congress is considering a new bipartisan immigration reform bill that would shield undocumented agricultural workers from deportation.

As Republican legislators opt for ballot harvesting, Democrats lean into town halls in predominantly red districts to engage new or reluctant voters.