OLYMPIA, WA (MYBELLINGHAMNOW.COM) – There’s a tug-o-war going on in Olympia over rates health care insurers pay independent providers, and it could affect how much you pay for insurance.

Senate Bill 6161 would require the rates health insurance companies pay independent health care providers to increase annually, based on the Consumer Price Index.

Lori Grassi with the Washington State Chiropractic Association told a Senate committee Tuesday that it’s a matter of financial survival.

She offered the example of two insurance carriers that she said pay less today than they did in 2003, and another that pays the exact same rate.

Therapists, mental health counselors and optometrists were among those who also supported the bill.

But Jennifer Ziegler with the Association of Washington Health Care Plans testified that the legislation would drive up costs for consumers.

She said tying rates to the CPI would boost the cost to health insurers by tens of millions of dollars and they would be forced to pass that on.

She also maintained that the CPI index increased more than the actual cost of delivering health care in at least two recent years.

She said one of the reasons for lower rates paid to independent providers is that some plans are tied to rates paid by Medicare.