We’ve made it halfway through the 2022 legislative session! To get you up to speed, here is NoHLA’s first Legislative Update on pending bills that relate to health care access. 

This update is current as of February 10, 2022 and reflects bills that have survived the first two hurdles of legislative session: the February 3rd deadline for bills to move out of policy committees in the chamber of origin, and the February 7th deadline to move out of fiscal committees. Bills that are still alive must now survive a floor vote in the chamber of origin by February 15. Some bills have already passed one chamber and moved to the policy committee in the other chamber. The only exceptions from these deadlines are bills deemed “necessary to implement the budget” (NTIB), which could re-emerge later in session.

We’re glad to see energy this legislative session around health access, affordability, and equity, despite the short session. Important bills are advancing to:

• Protect consumers from surprise medical bills (2SHB 1688) 
• Increase the “personal needs allowance” so that people receiving in-home long term care can afford basic necessities like rent and food (SSB 5745)
• Expand statewide charity care standards (SHB 1616)
• Ensure appropriate customer service standards for clients in Dept. of Social and Health Services programs (2SHB 2075) 
• Tackle health care costs in prescription drugs (2SSB 5532) and health care contracting (SHB 1741) 

Unfortunately, some other key bills did not advance in time for the cut-off dates, such as the “Keep Our Care Act” related to health care system consolidation (SB 5688/HB 1809) and “Recommendations from the Dental Therapy Task Force” (HB 1885). We hope to see these bills back again next session. 

Soon the Legislature will take up the supplemental operating budget for the 2021-2023 biennium.  We expect an updated revenue forecast next week, and then both chambers will release their budget proposals. We’ll be reviewing those proposals to see if they fund important health equity priorities, such as affordable health coverage for immigrants and Medicare enrollees. We will share a budget update when the proposals are available. 

We hope you find these updates helpful. You are welcome to share them. If you know of other bills that should be included in this summary or have any questions or comments, please let us know.