Dear friends and colleagues,

The 2022 legislative session has come to a close, and we are happy to share news of important victories for health care access! The Legislature completed its work on March 10th, and now the Governor has twenty days to sign or veto bills and budget items. We are pleased to report that the Legislature included NoHLA’s key legislative priorities:

Advancing health equity for immigrants

The Legislature is allocating more than $12 million in this year’s budget to launch health coverage programs for all Washingtonians, regardless of their immigration status, beginning in 2024.  The conference budget builds on the Governor’s promise to expand access to health coverage by directing the Health Care Authority to offer a “Medicaid equivalent” program for all adult immigrants with incomes up to 138% FPL, as well as a Health Benefit Exchange-based program with subsidies for people above that income level. The budget funds agencies to lay the groundwork so programs can be offered for coverage in 2024, and anticipates funding program costs in the next biennium, demonstrating a commitment by the Legislature to immigrant communities.  We and other members of the Health Equity for Immigrants Campaign are grateful to our champions, including Representatives Thai, Cody, and Macri for their strong and effective leadership and dedication that resulted in concrete steps toward expanding health care coverage for immigrants. We look forward to advocating for full funding for the programs next session. 

Addressing the Medicare affordability cliff 

Aligned with Governor Inslee’s supplemental budget, the Legislature has taken a first step to address the “Medicare Cliff” by removing the burdensome asset test that currently blocks Medicare enrollees from Medicare Savings Programs assistance if they have modest savings for retirement or emergencies. Additionally, the 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. Thanks to Senators Robinson, Keiser and Randall for their work making health care more affordable for older adults.

Other critical health care protections

NoHLA also advanced consumer protections in other bills that passed this session, including:

• Protecting consumers from surprise medical bills (E2SHB 1688). NoHLA supported this Office of Insurance Commissioner request bill, which aligns federal and state law to protect consumers from surprise medical bills for out-of-network care. With efforts from NoHLA and partners, the final bill maintains strong legal rights for consumers, includes new protections for behavioral health crises, sets the stage to address remaining ambulance bills, and tamps down on health care costs. 

• Expanding statewide charity care standards (SHB 1616). NoHLA and partners provided input into this Attorney General Office-request bill, which will set a new statewide minimum for hospital charity care. The final bill will require all hospitals to provide charity care for people up to 200% of the federal poverty level, and partial charity care for higher incomes. NoHLA’s advocacy led to improvements in how hospitals can consider assets when determining eligibility for charity care. 

We’re also excited to see that other items NoHLA supported passed, including:

• a new Prescription Drug Transparency Board to start tackling prescription drug costs (2SSB 5532)
• a bill and funds to increase the “personal needs allowance” so people receiving in-home long-term care can afford basic necessities (SSB 5745) 
• a bill and funds for the “Apple Health and Homes” initiative to expand affordable housing for Apple Health enrollees (ESHB 1866)
• a bill that preserves a pregnant individual’s ability to access abortion and authorizes care by physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners, and certain other providers (HB 1851)
• a bill that addresses inequitable customer service at the Dept. of Social and Health Services (2SHB 2075)

We are disappointed that a number of bills that would have tackled systemic health care issues didn’t pass in the face of intense industry opposition, including the “Keep Our Care Act” to address health provider consolidation, a bill that would have required language translation of prescription drug labels, the Safe Staffing bill to address hospital worker protections, and the Sutter Settlement bill to address unfair health care contracting practices. 

Keep an eye out for updates on the bills and budget after the deadline for the Governor’s signature in early April. You can also track the Governor’s action on bills. Please contact us if you are interested in further information.