It’s the third week of Washington’s legislative session! Since this is a shorter 60-day session in the biennial cycle, things are moving quickly. Next Wednesday (1/31) is the first bill cutoff, which means there is urgency to get bills heard because anything not voted out of the policy committee by that date will be considered dead, unless necessary to implement the budget. NoHLA has been working hard to promote health care access, affordability, and equity as policymakers debate – we’ve already weighed in on several bills that could have significant effects on health care in Washington state. 

Here’s a quick round-up of key bills NoHLA has supported so far: 

• Protecting Preventive Services – NoHLA testified (at 21:26) before the House Health committee in support of HB 1957, ensuring preventive services are covered by health insurance without cost-sharing. This bill would ensure WA State residents continue to have access to key preventive services (such as cancer screenings and prophylactic HIV treatment) if Braidwood v. Becerra litigation threatens the federal Affordable Care Act’s preventive services requirements.   

• Ending Ground Ambulance Balance Billing – NoHLA testified (at 36:00) before the Senate Health committee in support of SB 5986, which would ban out-of-network “surprise” bills, aka balance bills that are sent when ground ambulance services are not in-network. This bill also sets a default payment amount to keep ground ambulance services more affordable. See our Fair Health Prices WA’s fact sheet for more information.

• Exchange Standardized Health Plans – NoHLA testified (at 27:00) before the House Health committee in support of HB 2361, which would ensure the Exchange only offers health plans with standardized out-of-pocket cost-sharing levels that are approved by the state. This would allow the Exchange to stop offering plans on Washington Healthplanfinder that don’t offer good value. 

• Fair Provider Contracting – NoHLA testified (at 1:33:53) before the House Health committee in support of HB 2066, which would target the high prices caused by consolidation in our health care market by prohibiting certain unfair negotiating conduct between insurers and providers. See our Fair Health Prices WA fact sheet for more info on this bill.

• Long-term Care Resident Rights – NoHLA is supporting HB 1859, which would extend existing federal rights for nursing home residents to residents of assisted living facilities, adult family homes, and veterans’ homes. 

We’re also excited that some great bills have already advanced through the first chamber, such as:

• Maternal Health Outcomes – SB 5580 would expand income eligibility for Apple Health pregnancy/postpartum coverage to 210% of the Federal Poverty Level and improve supportive maternity services. The bill has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support!
• Universal Health Care – SJM 8006 petitions the federal government to help states create a universal health care system. This bill has also already passed the Senate!

We’re monitoring some bills that could raise concerns for patient care in Washington, including: 

• Certificate of Need Modernization – NoHLA testified (at 1:07:08) before the House Health committee on HB 2128, which would create a task force to examine the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) process. CON is intended to provide a mechanism for health access planning in the state and NoHLA testified that consumer participation is critical in those decisions. 
• Charity Care Residency Restrictions – NoHLA is monitoring SB 6257,  which would restrict the definition of who is eligible for charity care to Washington state residents and those needing emergency care. As written, this bill could present obstacles to care for WA residents and non-residents alike.

We’ll share a longer list of health care bills of interest after the policy cut-off. We’ll also share an update on the budget process when that begins in a few weeks–NoHLA will be watching to make sure that Washington’s new immigrant health coverage programs receive more funding in the budget to meet the community need.