SB 5344: Proactive nurse fatigue bill advances to Ways & Means thanks to hospital advocacy efforts
We are pleased to report that SB 5344, the proactive nurse fatigue bill supported by WSHA, has advanced through the Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care. Contacts made by hospital leaders and staff to legislators encouraging their support of the bill has been crucial to ensure this bill passed this first hurdle in the legislative process. A hearing date has not yet been set. Read more about the bill in the Feb. 11 Inside Olympia. (Lauren McDonald)
HB 1155 / SB 5190: Uninterrupted breaks and staffing requirement bills still alive
HB 1155 / SB 5190, the nurse staffing legislation promoted by the nursing unions, is still moving forward in both the House and Senate, and they now reside in the House Committee on Appropriation and the Senate Committee on Ways & Means, respectively.
WSHA opposes the bills, which would require hospitals to provide completely uninterrupted meal and rest breaks for nurses and certain technicians and technologists, regardless of patient need. It would also place rigid constraints on a hospital’s ability to use prescheduled on-call and overtime for nurses and certain types of technologists and technicians, which currently support hospital staffing needs and provide high-quality care to patients. Messages to legislators from hospitals have helped share the story of what this legislation would mean for staff scheduling and patient access to care. This kind of direct advocacy will need to continue to ensure the voices of nurses, patients and hospital leaders are heard in the debate. (Lauren McDonald)
HB 1175: Health care decision-making for patients who lack capacity
WSHA supports HB 1175, which expands who can be a surrogate decision maker for a patient who lacks capacity and adds options for executing advance directives. The bill has passed through the House and will now be heard in the Senate. Its first hearing is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 25 in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice. Read more about the bill in the Jan. 21 Inside Olympia. (Zosia Stanley)
High priority bills still alive after first cutoff
Bills WSHA Supports
| HB 1016 | Concerning hospital notification of availability of sexual assault evidence kit collection |
| HB 1166 | Omnibus bill supporting sexual assault survivors |
| HB 1175 | Concerning health care decision making for patients who lack capacity |
| HB 1336 / SB 5327 | Expanding career connected learning opportunities |
| HB 1352 | Concerning drug compounding |
| HB 1394 / SB 5431 | Exempting psychiatric beds from Certificate of Need & Involuntary Treatment Act concerns |
| HB 1412 | Concerning nonresident pharmacies |
| HB 1406 / SB 5646 | Encouraging investments in affordable and supportive housing |
| HB 1593 | Establishing a behavioral health innovation and integration campus within the UW School of Medicine |
| HB 1638 | Promoting immunity against vaccine preventable diseases |
| HB 1686 | Concerning hospital access to care policies |
| HB 1748 / SB 5734 | Concerning the hospital safety net assessment |
| HB 1876/ SB 5903 | Concerning children’s mental health |
| HB 1931 | Concerning workplace violence in health care settings |
| SB 5054 | Increasing the behavioral health workforce by establishing a reciprocity program to increase the portability of behavioral health licenses and certifications |
| SB 5260 | Concerning powers to waive statutory obligations or limitations during a state of emergency in order to cope with the emergency |
| SB 5344 | Proactive nursing fatigue bill |
| SB 5380 | Concerning opioid use disorder treatment, prevention and related services |
| SB 5483 | Improving services for individuals with developmental disabilities |
| SB 5537 | Expanding community-based behavioral health facilities through issuance of state bonds |
| SB 5672 | Concerning adult family home specialty services |
| SB 5699 | Protecting consumers from charges for out-of-network health care services |
Bills on which WSHA is neutral
| HB 1049 | Concerning health care provider and health care facility whistleblower protections |
| HB 1531 | Concerning medical debt |
| HB 1607 | Requiring health care entities to provide written information of any “material” transactions to the state attorney general before the transaction is complete |
| HB 1776 / SB 5741 | Making changes to support the future operations of the state all-payer claims database |
| HB 1515 | Concerning the employer-employee relationship (severely restricting independent contractors); Changed to a work group in the House |
Bills with which WSHA has concerns (working to amend)
| HB 1065 | Concerning balance billing |
| HB 1331 | Concerning opioid use disorder treatment prevention and related services. WSHA supports expanding access to treatment and prevention for opioid use disorder but has concerns about a mandate for EHRs to integrate with the PMP. |
| HB 1523 / SB 5526 | Concerning a public option for health care coverage. WSHA supports the idea of a public option but has concerns about the bill’s proposed payment rate. |
| HB 1608 | Prohibiting hospitals and health systems from appropriately managing the types and quality of services they provide |
| HB 1854 | Protecting consumer data |
| HB 1874 / SB 5904 | Implementing policies related to expanding adolescent behavioral health care access as reviewed and recommended by the children’s mental health work group |
| SB 5376 | Protecting consumer data |
| SB 5720 | Concerning the involuntary treatment act |
Bills WSHA opposes
| HB 1135 / SB 5163 | Concerning actions for wrongful injury or death |
| HB 1155 / SB 5190 | Uninterrupted breaks and staffing requirements |
| HB 1450 / SB 5478 | Concerning restraints on persons engaging in lawful professions, trades or businesses (Noncompete agreements) |
| HB 1965 | Allowing whistleblowers to bring actions on behalf of the state for violation of workplace protections |
| SB 5295 | Concerning labor neutrality and contractor compliance for certain contracted service providers |
| HB 1854 | Protecting consumer data |
Notable bills that have died
- HB 1601 and SB 5690: Concerning the universal worker protections act
- HB 1693: Establishing a system for setting rates for health care services
- HB 1810: WSHA-promoted rural payment reform bill. WSHA is currently working on budget language to place parameters on rural payment reform.
- HB 2046: Increasing consumer data transparency
- SB 5169: Ensuring the neutrality of public employers and state contractors with regard to employees exercising their rights to collectively bargain
- SB 5256 / HB 2077: Concerning use of the term “birth center”
- SB 5374: Concerning rest and meal periods for all workers
- SB 5411: Concerning physician assistants
- SB 5446: Concerning electronic prescriptions
- SB 5459: Concerning nonresident pharmacies (companion bill, HB 1412, is still alive)
- SB 5460 / HB 1882: Joining the nurse licensure compact
- SB 5660: Concerning the duties of mental health professionals
- SB 5663: Compounding drugs (companion bill, HB 1352, is still alive)
WSHA legislative testimony: Feb. 25 – March 1
WSHA is testifying on the following bills this week:
Monday, Feb. 25
- Senate Law & Justice
- HB 1175: Concerning health care decision making for patients who lack capacity (Zosia Stanley)
- House Appropriations
- SHB 1166 – Supporting sexual assault survivors. (Zosia Stanley)
Tuesday, Feb. 26
- Senate Ways & Means
- SSB 5720 – Concerning the involuntary treatment act. (Jaclyn Greenberg)
- SSB 5483 – Improving services for individuals with developmental disabilities. (Zosia Stanley)
- SSB 5431 – Concerning community facilities needed to ensure a continuum of care for behavioral health patients. (Shirley Prasad)
