The rollercoaster effort by Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took yet another dramatic turn on Tuesday. The unexpected return of ailing Sen. John McCain combined with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence gave Senate GOP leaders the 51 votes necessary to begin debate on the future of the ACA. The Senate is expected to consider three main proposals.... Read More >>

Washington State’s Office of Financial Management’s (OFM’s) Health Research Center recently released a research brief examining potentially preventable hospital readmissions by legislative district across the state. The report examines hospitalizations for 11 conditions that, in theory, would not have required inpatient care if the patients had had timely access to primary or secondary care services, such as vaccinations, antibiotics or regular physician office visits.... Read More >>

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Connect2Health Task Force will convene virtual listening sessions beginning next month to get input on broadband health issues, including on the rural/urban gap and other digital divide issues, from stakeholders outside Washington, D.C.... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information about a proposed increase in licensing fees for hospitals.... Read More >>

WSHA, with help from our partner organizations, has created a template to help providers and Accountable Communities of Health (ACHs) consider critical elements needed for behavioral health integration as they work to submit applications and plan for implementation of the Medicaid demonstration behavioral health integration project.... Read More >>

Monday’s action does not mean the end of the health care debate in Congress. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to try to pass a bill that first passed in 2015 and was vetoed by President Obama that would simply repeal the ACA, effective in two years. Congress would use the intervening two years to develop a replacement. However, that effort also appears to be doomed, as three Republican Senators on Tuesday announced they would vote against such a measure.... Read More >>

Join us for a webinar at 1 p.m. July 27 to learn more about Washington State’s new law to address the opioid crisis through enhancements in the state prescription drug monitoring program. Experts from the Department of Health, WSMA and WSHA will provide an overview of the new law, discuss how new prescribing and overdose data will be available for providers, and address how hospitals, health systems and independent practices should be thinking about implementation of this new law and next steps in addressing the opioid crisis.... Read More >>

This legislative session, the state legislature passed HB 2202, which was proposed by AWPHD and provided clarity on which emergency medical technicians (EMTs) were eligible to participate in the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Fire Fighter’s (LEOFF) retirement program, which is a more robust and expensive alternative to regular retirement programs. With the passage of the bill, only EMTs at hospital districts who are full-time employees and are rendering care at the scene of an emergency or transporting patients in an ambulance will be eligible for LEOFF. The bill resulted in a savings of more than $8 million for hospital districts.... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to help providers and Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) consider critical elements needed for behavioral health integration... Read More >>

The Washington State Hospital Association remains deeply concerned with the Senate’s approach to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Most of the underlying provisions of the new bill, including deep cuts to Medicaid, are unchanged from the previous draft and will result in dramatically fewer Washingtonians having access to health coverage and care.... Read More >>