Retired State Sen. Karen Keiser, of Des Moines, has been appointed to the Washington Health Benefit Exchange board of directors.

Former Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Keiser to the Exchange Board before leaving office in mid-January.

“We are excited to welcome Karen Keiser to the Exchange Board,” said Exchange CEO Ingrid Ulrey in a Feb. 13 media release from the Health Benefit Exchange. “Throughout her time in the Senate, Karen shaped Washington state’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act and championed numerous policies to improve access to high quality affordable health care. Her background and expertise will help guide the Exchange into the future.”

Keiser served nearly 30 years in the Legislature representing the 33rd District, covering all or parts of Kent, Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park and SeaTac.

“I am so pleased to take on this new role on the Exchange Board,” Keiser said. “When I became chair of the Senate Health Care Committee, our state’s uninsurance rate was near 16%. With the effective implementation of what was called ‘Obamacare,’ the Exchange successfully reduced our uninsured rate to below 5%. I am thrilled to join the Exchange to protect and expand those gains.”

Keiser was the most senior member of the state Senate before her resignation, reelected six times since winning her first election into the House of Representatives in 1996.

Keiser was born and raised in Iowa, moving to California her senior year of high school. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she received a bachelor’s in political science before earning a master’s in journalism. She worked as a broadcast journalist in Portland, Denver and Seattle before joining the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, as its communications director.

King County Executive Dow Constantine nominated Keiser, Julia Patterson and De’Sean Quinn last month as candidates to replace Dave Upthegrove on the County Council. Voters elected Upthegrove in November 2024 as the new state lands commissioner. The council picked Quinn, of Tukwila, for the District 5 seat that includes parts of Kent.

Health benefit exchange

A health benefit exchange is a key provision of the Affordable Care Act that creates a new marketplace for each state to offer health and dental insurance coverage to individuals and families, according to the Exchange website. Exchanges can be developed and implemented by the state or by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Washington state chose to implement a state-based exchange.

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange was created in state statute in 2011 as a public-private partnership. The Exchange is responsible for the operation of Washington Healthplanfinder, an easily accessible, online marketplace for individuals and families to find, compare and enroll in Qualified Health Plans, Qualified Dental Plans and Washington Apple Health (Medicaid).