Olympia, Wash. — Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler met with members of Congress and their staff, Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius this week in Washington D.C. on the need for urgency in enacting health care reform this summer.

“The economic crisis has given us a unique opportunity to reshape the future of our health care system,” said Kreidler. “I’m encouraged by the progress being made at the national level to guarantee everyone health coverage.”

“While I had hoped that we could tackle health care reform at the state level, the severe impact of today’s economy stymied most legislative initiatives,” he added. “I appreciate this opportunity to inform key Congressional members and the Obama Administration about my proposal for universal catastrophic and preventative health insurance benefits.”

Kreidler was joined in the nation’s capitol by 35 of his fellow insurance regulators, stressing the importance of maintaining state-based insurance regulation.

The insurance commissioners shared with members of Congress and the administration that despite the erratic economic environment, insurance regulation has stayed relatively constant for the last 150 years and the public has benefited from this oversight. Some members of Congress are attempting to lump insurance regulation in with other national financial reforms. In addition to discussing his ideas for health care reform, Kreidler urged that the regulation of insurance stay at the state level.

“The American people want more financial stability, not less, and they need health care reform today,” he said. “States, including Washington, have led the way in creating important consumer protections, such as the Patient Bill of Rights. We need to continue to be at the table, sharing our local perspectives as the reform debates move forward.”

Kreidler returns to Washington state tonight.