HCA finalizes public option contracting enforcement rule

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) recently finalized its rulemaking for enforcement of the requirement under Senate Bill 5377 that hospitals contract with at least one public option plan if they receive an offer from a carrier. WSHA had submitted comments during the rulemaking process. While HCA adopted some of WSHA’s suggested changes, we are disappointed it did not adopt others, particularly WSHA’s requests that hospitals not be subjected to the investigation process if they can document that they are contracted with at least one public option plan and that carriers be required to used precise terminology to identify public option plans in their offers. As a result, we recommend hospitals exercise care regarding their communications and negotiations with carriers that may include a public option plan. Additional information and recommendations are in our recent bulletin. (Andrew Busz, AndrewB@wsha.org)