We’ve made it to the final week of the legislative session and there’s a lot to report! 

Last Friday (3/1) was opposite chamber floor cutoff for bills that are not considered necessary to implement the budget. Only 373 bills made it past the opposite house floor cutoff this year. Now the two chambers must resolve any differences in their versions and send each bill for final signatures by the Senate President and Speaker of the House, before the Governor has a chance to sign or veto each bill. 

Meanwhile, here are some highlights of health care priority bills that passed both chambers: 

• Prenatal & Perinatal Health Outcomes – SB 5580 expands income eligibility for Apple Health pregnancy/postpartum coverage to 210% of the Federal Poverty Level and improves supportive prenatal and perinatal services. Passed the Senate and House and awaiting signatures before going to the Governor.

• Ending Ground Ambulance Balance Billing – SB 5986 bans out-of-network “surprise” bills, also known as balance bills insured people often receive today when ground ambulance services are not in-network. This bill has also been a part of NoHLA’s Fair Health Prices WA effort. This bill sets the ground ambulance rate at 325% of Medicare and requires the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to study trends in ground ambulance billing practices. Passed the Senate and the House Health Committee; and awaiting signatures before going to the Governor.

• Health Care Cost Transparency Board – HB 1508 strengthens the work of the state’s Health Care Cost Transparency Board (HCCTB) by creating an ongoing survey of underinsurance trends, adding consumer seats to the HCCTB advisory committee, and requiring insurers and providers that exceed the state’s health cost goals to participate in an annual public hearing. This bill has been a NoHLA priority as part of the Fair Health Prices WA effort to increase health care affordability. Passed the House and Senate and signed; awaiting the Governor’s signature. 

And here are some lowlights, bills that didn’t make it all the way through the process in this short supplemental session: 

• Keep Our Care Act – SB 5241 would have addressed Washington’s increasingly consolidated health care market by giving the Attorney General oversight and enforcement authority to ensure health care consolidations do not affect access to affordable quality health care. This bill has also been a part of NoHLA’s Fair Health Prices WA effort and was a top priority of many consumer advocates this session. NoHLA and many others fought valiantly for this bill, pushing to keep it alive until the very last hours of session, but ultimately couldn’t overcome a wall of monied interests this year. Passed the Senate, but did not receive a floor vote in the House. 

• Exchange Standardized Health Plans – HB 2361 would have required the Exchange to limit the “non-standardized” health plans it offers through Washington Healthplanfinder, ensuring people can more readily find Cascade Care plans that have standardized out-of-pocket cost-sharing levels approved by the state. Passed the House, but did not receive a floor vote in the Senate.

• Universal Health Care – SJM 8006 would have petitioned the federal government to help states create a universal health care system. Passed the Senate, but did not receive a floor vote in the House.

But we aren’t done yet! Now all eyes will turn to the supplemental budgets, which will be released shortly before the legislature adjourns “sine die” on Thursday, March 7th. Here’s the top of our list for what we’ll be watching for in the final operating budget:

• the House proposed $29.4 million in new funds for the immigrant health coverage expansion, but the Senate only included $3.8 million;
• both the Senate and House proposed dedicated funds to support expanding Apple Health, including new coverage for people affected by the post-pandemic “wind-down,” continuous coverage for children up to age 6 in the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and addressing coverage gaps between Apple Health and the Exchange;
• the House budget proposed a study on expanding “dual eligibles” coverage, which would  allow more low-income Medicare enrollees to get Medicaid coverage; and
• both the Senate and House proposed designated funds to better understand health care affordability with studies by the Health Care Cost Transparency Board and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.