Dear friends and colleagues,
Here is NoHLA’s second update of the 2022 Legislative Session on pending bills and budget items in the Washington State Legislature that relate to health care access.
We are nearing the end of the 60-day legislative session. All bills must pass the second chamber by Friday, March 4th, except those considered necessary to implement the budget. Any differences between House and Senate versions of a bill must be resolved by the end of session, slated for March 10th, along with the passage of the final budget. The Governor then has additional time to sign or veto bills.
As we near the end of session, many health care bills have already passed both chambers. Many other health care bills are still pending a final vote in the second chamber; the update includes details. Among others, we’re watching:
- Protect consumers from surprise medical bills (2SHB 1688)
- Expand statewide charity care standards (SHB 1616)
- Ensure appropriate customer service standards for clients in Dept. of Social and Health Services programs (2SHB 2075)
- Increase the “personal needs allowance” so that people receiving in-home long term care can afford basic necessities like rent and food (SSB 5745)
- Tackle health care costs in prescription drugs (2SSB 5532)
We’re also sharing NoHLA’s first Budget Update for the 2022 Session. This update includes proposed changes in the budget that may substantially affect access to health care. Both the Senate and the House passed their respective supplemental budgets with proposed amendments to the 2021-23 budget that was passed last year. The next step is for the two chambers to finalize the supplemental budget for the Governor’s signature.
We’re pleased that NoHLA’s two top priorities were included in the proposed budgets:
Health equity for immigrants. Both House and Senate budgets expand on the Governor’s promise to increase access to health coverage regardless of immigration status by funding administrative costs to launch a “Medicaid equivalent” program for immigrants with incomes up to 138% FPL and a Health Benefit Exchange-based program for others. The budgets direct the agencies to start coverage under these programs by 2024.. The Senate’s budget adds $5 million for HBE subsidies while the House’s budget earmarks $5 million from the Exchange’s existing state Cascade Care subsidy program, so the Health Equity for Immigrants Campaign (HEIC) prefers the Senate approach.
Addressing the Medicare affordability cliff. Aligned with Governor Inslee’s supplemental budget, both House and Senate versions of the budget propose an initial step to address the “Medicare Cliff” issue by removing the onerous “asset test” that bars Medicare enrollees from Medicare Savings Programs affordability assistance if they have even modest savings for retirement or emergencies. While we applaud this first step; however, additional steps are needed to address the affordability cliff for those with low income. Only the Senate budget includes a comprehensive study of options the state could take to expand affordability assistance programs with help from federal funds, as 34 other states have done. We hope to see this study represented in the final budget.
The House and Senate budget conferences must resolve differences and pass a budget by the end of session, March 10.
We hope you find these updates helpful. You are welcome to share them. If you know of other bill or budget items that should be included in this summary or have any questions or comments, please let us know.
Thanks to Emily Brice, Ann Vining, and LeeChe Leong for their help in preparing this legislative update.