VISION
We envision a future where all people living in Washington can access the health care we need, regardless of immigration status. We work to improve access to affordable health care and coverage for all Washington residents, prioritizing equal access for individuals who are uninsured and underinsured due to immigration status restrictions.

PURPOSE & GOAL
Immigrants are excluded from many vital public health coverage programs in Washington State. The COVID-19 public health emergency has made it clear that immigrant communities and people of color need better access to health care coverage and services. The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN), Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA) are working with community leaders and impacted community members to learn more about health care needs in communities and what should be prioritized for new coverage programs and services.
Our goal is to ensure that all immigrants in Washington will be eligible to receive health insurance.

OUR WORK
To achieve our goal, the campaign will focus on three areas:
a)     Education: workshops about existing health care access programs and services available to immigrants to build power through knowledge.
b)     Identifying gaps: we work alongside community leaders, impacted community members, and providers to identify the most urgent gaps in care and services via focus groups and surveys.
c)     Legislative advocacy: building on successes from the 2021 legislative session, we will use community-identified priorities to shape policy agendas, propose legislation, and advocate for the passage of bills that promote health equity. We will work with community leaders,  impacted community members, and providers to communicate these priorities to elected officials and policy makers.
We expect that this may be a multi-year campaign to build power toward meeting our health justice goals.

CAMPAIGN PRINCIPLES
*These principles will be updated and refined based on community input and as the campaign evolves.
1. Center community in this work: communities should identify problems, help define solutions, and determine terms of success. Prior health policy advocacy experience is not needed, just an interest to learn more and get involved.
2. Community members and community leaders’ involvement is necessary for the success of the campaign: involvement from community leaders and community members who bear the largest burden of inequitable access are critical to this work.
3. Involve diverse organizations & individuals to improve healthcare access: health determines all aspects of our lives, and the health of all community members shapes our society, so we have a shared responsibility to improve health equity and help all Washingtonians thrive. We invite organizations and individuals across Washington to support this effort.
4. Recognize structural racism contributes to poor health and inequitable access: use a strengths-based approach where the impact of racism and other forms of discrimination is acknowledged, and community members are treated as experts in their own lives and experiences.
5. Health policy priorities may include creation of new programs, expansion of services currently available, or defense of existing programs at both the state and local level.
6. Health equity includes other aspects, such as linguistic and cultural accessibility: health care providers and staff should share linguistic and cultural identities with the communities they serve.

SIGNING ON TO THE CAMPAIGN
By signing on, you agree to work towards the vision, purpose, and principles stated above and consent to having your organization’s name on campaign communication materials.
We will invite you to general campaign meetings, to participate in subcommittees, and to engage in education and advocacy efforts to advance the goals of the campaign.