The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) issued its final CR-103 rule to implement E2SHB 1688. The rule aligns portions of the state’s Balance Billing Protection Act as amended by E2SHB 1688 with the federal No Surprises Act.
OIC made significant changes to the definition of “outpatient hospital department” to the rule in response to WSHA’s comments, though the final rule does not reflect the exact language we requested. WSHA was concerned that the definition could be incorrectly applied to non-hospital locations or freestanding clinics affiliated with a hospital or health system. However, we are assured that the OIC’s Concise Explanatory Statement indicates the definition in the final rule is limited to hospital ownership/licensure and other relationships in which the outpatient service is financially integrated into that of the hospital. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)
