Budget bills
The House and Senate have now passed their respective budgets. WSHA supports the spending plans of both the House and Senate, both of which put important resources into health care, most prominently making improvements to the behavioral health system.
To compare the budgets, see our comparison chart here.
However, the House’s tax bill includes an increase to the business and occupation (B&O) tax that would affect hospitals in Washington State. WSHA is very concerned about the impacts of the B&O tax increase, and we’re working to analyze the impacts on hospitals. The bill has been referred to the Finance Committee and will have a hearing on it today.
Policy bills
We are now past the cutoff for policy bills to pass a committee in the opposite chamber, so it is a good opportunity to assess the progress of our key bills. Click here to see the full cutoff calendar.
Living bills
These bills are still alive and moving through the house opposite their house of origin.
| Bill Number | Description | WSHA Position |
| HB 1337 | Establishing an interstate physician licensure compact | Support |
| HB 1338 | Washington state health insurance pool | Support |
| HB 1359 | Notice of charity care in hospital billing statements | Neutral as amended |
| HB 1477 | Concerning disclosure of health-related information with persons with a close relationship with a patient | Support as amended |
| HB 1520 | Alternative payment methodology for WRHAP pilot | Support |
| HB 1547 | Certificate of need exemption for psychiatric beds | Support – needs amendment in current form |
| HB 1641 | Informed consent for homeless youth | Support |
| HB 1713 | Children’s mental health improvements | Support |
| HB 1714 | Nurse staffing committees | Neutral |
| HB 1766 and SB 5815 | Hospital Safety Net Assessment | Support |
| HB 1967 | Noncompetition agreements | Neutral |
| HB 2114 | Charges for out of network health services | Oppose in current form |
| SB 5248 | Access to prescription monitoring program data | Support |
| SB 5435 | Allowing mental health information to be used by care coordinators | Support |
| SB 5436 | Expanding where patients can receive services delivered through telemedicine | Support |
| SB 5514 | Health network data reports | Neutral |
Dead (for now) bills
Bills that did not pass cutoff and are unlikely to move forward in their current form. However, we continuously scrutinize bills that are still moving to ensure that they are not amended with language we oppose.
| Bill Number | Description | WSHA Position |
| HB 1640 | Allowing notaries and proof of identity for advance directives | Support |
| HB 1854 | Concerning transition of Medicaid enrollees to skilled nursing facility care | Support |
| SB 5186 | Concerning collection of blood for forensic testing | Support |
| SB 5456 | Concerning unpaid accounts | Support |
| SB 5800 | Concerning a provider’s duty to warn | Support |
