Policy/Advocacy Agenda & Issue Briefs

2012 Policy/Advocacy Agenda

These documents are designed to help you support and participate in the Washington State Hospital Association’s (WSHA’s) efforts to convince Washington State officials to support WSHA’s goals, objectives, and priorities.  These documents also identify issues of importance to the Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts (AWPHD).  During 2012, the documents will be revised as needed.

Listed below are the Washington State Hospital Association’s (WSHA’s) mission statement and 2011 strategic goals, 2012 issue and agency/ organization assignments for the Policy/Advocacy Team, and a current roster of team members.

In reviewing the issue assignments, please consider the following guidelines:

• Top Priority Issues — Issues that require significant policy/advocacy staff resources and meet the following four criteria: 
  
   Important and beneficial to our hospital members;
  Benefit the health care system and the community;
  An issue WSHA/AWPHD can impact or influence significantly; and
  A reasonable chance of success (economically and politically feasible).


• Other Priority Issues — Issues that require some policy/advocacy staff resources and meet the foregoing criteria, but to a lesser extent than the top priority issues.


• Issues to Monitor — Issues that are monitored and tracked by policy/advocacy staff and may require a limited amount of work. This section does not include every issue we are working on; it does include state or federal issues we reasonably expect to require some policy/advocacy work during 2011.

Periodically, one or more of the “top priority,” “other priority,” and “issues to monitor” will be reassigned to another category based on new information or changing circumstances.

Please contact the assigned policy staff member if you have any questions or comments about the 2011 issue and agency/organization assignments.

Washington State Hospital Association Strategic Goals

WSHA POLICY/ADVOCACY ISSUE ASSIGNMENTS AND BRIEFS

High Priority Issues/Projects (2012) 

Issues (17)		Policy Lead(s)	F/S*	State Lobbyist	L/A**
Goal 1 Transform the Health Care Delivery System (1)
	Transform Rural Health Care	Mero	S	McComb/Thatcher	L
Goal 2 Advocate for Access to Health Care (4)
	Access to Health Care (Budget)	Sauer	F/S	McComb	L/A
	Essential Health Benefits	Whiteaker	F/S	McComb/Thatcher	L
	Health Insurance Exchange	Whiteaker	F/S	McComb/Thatcher	L
	Mental Health Funding (Budget)	Whiteaker	S	McComb	L
Goal 3 Zero Preventable Deaths (0)
Goal 4 Promote the Viability/Vitality of the Delivery System (11)
	Certified Public Expenditures (Budget)	Mero	S/F	McComb	L/A
	Critical Access Hospitals (Budget)	Mero	F/S	McComb/Thatcher	L
	DSH Payments (Budgets)	Busz	S	McComb	L
	Emergency Visit Limit Lawsuit	Briley	S	McComb	L/A
	Executive Compensation	Whiteaker	S	Thatcher	L
	Hospital Assessment Lawsuit	Briley	S	McComb	L/A
	Hospital-Based Clinics	Busz	S	Thatcher	L
	Hospital Safety Net Assessment	Sanders	F/S	McComb	L/A
	Property Tax Exemption	Busz	F/S	McComb/Thatcher	L
	State Revenue	Sauer	S	McComb	L
	Washington's False Claims Act	Briley	F/S	Thatcher	L
Goal 5 Improve the Availability of Health Care Professionals (1)
	Nurse Staffing	Sauer	S	Thatcher	L/A
Goal 6 Improve the Health of the Population (0)    An issue brief is available for each of these top priorities    Summarized in a special memorandum *        Federal and/or State Issues **      Legislative and/or Administrative

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Medium Priority Issues/Projects (2012) 

Low Priority Issues/Projects (2012)

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ISSUES TO MONITOR (2012)

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GOVERNMENT AGENCY/ORGANIZATION ASSIGNMENTS