The owner of an east Vancouver child care center joined Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Monday morning to draw attention to Washington’s rising health care costs.

The two spoke at a news conference at Tree Hill Learning Center on Southeast 196th Avenue, along with representatives from a local insurance agency and Workforce Southwest Washington.

Washington’s Insurance Commissioner said in May that 14 health insurers in the state were seeking a rate increase for next year . The proposed increases for plans sold on the individual health insurance market averaged 21.2 percent and ranged from 9.6 percent to 37.3 percent.

The office expects the premium increases to affect about 300,000 people statewide.

Dana Christiansen, owner of Tree Hill Learning Center, said this isn’t the first time s

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