The Legislature is moving to floor action in the House and Senate, meaning they now vote to pass legislation.
The last cutoff of session was Monday, Feb. 5, when most bills needed to pass out of fiscal committees (the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means committees). WSHA is excited that many of our high-priority bills are continuing to advance, and some harmful bills have stalled in committees, meaning they are most likely dead for this session.
Bills still alive after cutoff
Bills WSHA supports
| SHB 1941 | Home health services for Medicaid-eligible children with medically complex conditions. |
| SHB 2015 | Incentivizing adult family homes to increase bed capacity. |
| HB 2157/SB 5982 | Updating the definition of “vaccine” in RCW 70.290.010 to include all federal food and drug administration-approved immunizations recommended by the centers for disease control and prevention. |
| SHB 2295/SSB 6101 | Hospital at-home services. |
| SHB 2347 | Adult family home information. |
|
HB 2476/SB 6309 |
Assessment to increase Medicaid professional payment. |
| SB 5184 | Licensure of anesthesiologist assistants. |
|
SB 5802 |
Providing flexibility in calculation of skilled nursing facility rates. |
| 2SSB 5825 | Guardianship and conservatorship. |
| 2SSB 5853 | Extending the crisis relief center model to provide behavioral health crisis services for minors. |
| SSB 5920 | Lifting certificate of need requirements for psychiatric hospitals and beds. |
| 2SSB 5937 | Supporting victims of human trafficking and victims of sexual abuse |
| SSB 5940 | Creating a medical assistant-EMT certification. |
|
SB 5986 |
Protecting patients out of network ground ambulance balance billing. |
Bills on which WSHA is neutral
| HB 1508 (per floor amendment) | Health care cost transparency board. |
| SHB 2061 | Defining an employee of a health care facility for purposes of mandatory overtime provisions. |
| SHB 2102 | Establishing requirements for the disclosure of health care information for qualifying persons to receive paid family and medical leave benefits. |
| HB 2166 | Portable orders for life-sustaining treatment. |
| ESSB 5481 | Uniform law commission’s uniform telehealth act. |
| ESSB 5788 | Accessibility for service animals in training. |
| SSB 5935 | Noncompetition covenants. |
| SSB 5995 | Creating a professional license for spoken language interpreters and translators. |
| 2SSB 6092 | Disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions. |
| SSB 6110 | Modernizing the child fatality statute. |
| SSB 6228 | Concerning treatment of substance use disorders. |
Bills with which WSHA has concerns and is working to amend
| HB 2122 | Wellness programs for certain health care professionals. |
| SHB 2128 | Modernizing certificate of need. |
| 2SHB 2319 | Substance use disorder treatment. |
| SSB 6127 | Increasing access to human immunodeficiency virus postexposure prophylaxis drugs or therapies. |
Bills WSHA opposes
| SHB 1893/SB 5777 | Unemployment insurance benefits for striking or lockout workers. |
| SB 5241 | Material changes to the operations and governance structure of participants in the health care marketplace. |
| SB 5821 | Establishing a uniform standard for creating an established relationship for the purposes of coverage of audio-only telemedicine services. |
Notable bills that are no longer moving forward
Bills WSHA supported
| HB 2184/SB 6167 | Authorizing payment for parental caregivers of minor children with developmental disabilities. |
| SB 6210 | Unlawful detainer actions and expanding superior court capacity. |
| SB 6257 | Defining Washington state residency requirements for purposes of hospital charity care. |
Bills WSHA opposed, had concerns with or amended
| HB 1859 | Rights of residents in long-term care facilities. |
| HB 1951 | Promoting ethical artificial intelligence by protecting against algorithmic discrimination |
| HB 2066 | Provider contracting. |
| HB 2119 | Prohibiting garnishment related to medical debt. |
| HB 2149 | Protecting consumer personal information. |
| HB 2378 | Facility fees. |
| HB 2466 | Ambulance wait times. |
| SB 5059 | Prejudgment interest. |
| SSB 5924 | Access to personnel records. |
| SSB 6134 | Preventing overdose and illicit use of opioids in Washington state. |
WSHA Weighing In: Feb. 5-9
WSHA is weighing in on the following bills this week:
Monday, Feb. 5
- House Appropriations
- SHB 1941: Providing for health home services for Medicaid-eligible children with medically complex conditions. (Katerina LaMarche)
