News

Hospitals and health systems, health care practices, community-based organizations and others can apply until March 31 to participate in a new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation model that will test whether access to health-related social services reduces health care costs and use of inpatient and outpatient health care services for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Jan. 5.... Read More >>

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange has announced that nearly 174,000 Washington State residents have signed up for or renewed their health coverage as of Jan. 2. The deadline to select a Qualified Health Plan is Jan. 31 for coverage beginning March 1.... Read More >>

We are getting ready for the 2016 legislative session, and are excited to invite you to our legislative session kickoff webcast. Cassie Sauer, Claudia Sanders and Mary Kay Clunies-Ross will talk about WSHA’s top priorities for the session, as well as how recent leadership changes might affect health care legislation this year.... Read More >>

U.S. spending on health care grew 5.3% in 2014 – largely due to coverage expansion associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and rapidly rising prescription drug prices – following five straight years of historically low growth, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported Dec. 2 in an article published online in Health Affairs. ... Read More >>

The Health Care Authority (HCA) has extended its deadline to Feb. 1 for providers to apply to offer total joint replacements using bundled payments for its coverage for state employees.... Read More >>

We are getting ready for the 2016 legislative session, and are excited to invite you to our legislative session kickoff webcast. Cassie Sauer, Claudia Sanders and Mary Kay Clunies-Ross will... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals of the Health Care Authority’s response to requests filed by WSHA hospitals appealing the significant reduction in PPS Medicaid inpatient and outpatient rates effective November 1, 2015. ... Read More >>

Governor Inslee today released his revisions to the 2015-2017 biennial budget, placing priority on education, relief for the state’s devastating 2015 wildfires and urgent mental health needs. The Governor had an additional $245 million in revenue to work with, in part thanks to the state’s economic growth. He also proposed closing tax loopholes and spending money out of the budget stabilization account. He faced a number of issues requiring significant spending – including paying for last summer’s wildfires and increasing prescription drug costs.... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to make you aware that the state is soliciting local and statewide projects for exploration and selection in the state’s global waiver negotiations with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for Medicaid. Project proposals are due January 15, 2016 to the state Health Care Authority (HCA).... Read More >>

The New York Times has created a deeply fascinating way to explore cost variation across the country, and it bears thought. On Tuesday, they published “The Experts Were Wrong About the Best Places for Better and Cheaper Health Care.” Medicare spending on procedures is a rich dataset of cost variation and has been used as a lens on the issue of cost variation.... Read More >>