Tuesday, March 9, marked the next cutoff of session, when all bills were required to have passed through their chamber of origin to continue advancing. Bills still alive now advance to the opposite chamber starting again with their policy committee. This Inside Olympia highlights bills that have hearings next week, as well as the list of bills that remain alive.
The following bills have hearings this week:
ESSB 5190: Providing health care workers with presumptive benefits during a public health emergency
WSHA has concerns and is seeking amendments to ESSB 5190. The bill would create a presumption of occupational disease for workers’ compensation for health care workers and provides a pathway for health care workers to voluntarily quit and receive benefits under unemployment insurance when they leave work to enter quarantine or contract the disease that is the subject of a declared public health emergency. The House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards will hold a public hearing on ESSB 5190 on Friday, March 12. Read more in the Jan. 25 Inside Olympia. (Alicia Eyler)
ESSB 5115: Establishing health emergency labor standards
WSHA negotiated to improve ESSB 5115, which is the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act. This legislation was narrowed to apply only during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the bill is primarily focused on “frontline employees,” which includes health care workers. ESSB 5115 passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support in a vote of 48-1. The House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards will hold a hearing on ESSB 5115 on Friday, March 12. Read more from the Jan. 19 Inside Olympia. (Alicia Eyler)
SSB 5236: Extending Certificate of Need exemptions
WSHA strongly supports SSB 5236, which would extend the current exemption of Certificate of Need laws for psychiatric hospitals for an additional 2 years. It will also now allow for freestanding psychiatric hospitals a one-time addition of up to 30 long-term psychiatric beds, in addition to a one-time addition of up to 30 beds for all other types of psychiatric beds. SSB 5236 passed the Senate unanimously. The House Committee on Health Care & Wellness will hold a public hearing on SSB 5236 on Wednesday, March 10. Read more from the Jan. 25 Inside Olympia. (Shirley Prasad)
SSB 5140: Miscarriage management
WSHA opposes SSB 5140, which establishes a private cause of action pertaining to miscarriage management and care for ectopic pregnancies. SSB 5140 passed the Senate 29-20. The House Committee on Health Care & Wellness will hold a public hearing on SSB 5140 on Thursday, March 11. Read more from the Jan. 19 Inside Olympia. (Zosia Stanley)
ESHB 1196 Concerning audio-only telemedicine
WSHA strongly supports ESHB 1196, which adds audio-only telephone visits to the definition of telemedicine for payment purposes. The bill passed the House 94-3. The only change to the bill is the removal of hospitals from the list of facilities eligible to charge a facility fee when the patient is in the hospital and connecting with a provider through audio services. The Senate Committee on Health & Long Term Care will hold a public hearing on ESHB 1196 on Friday, March 12. Read more from the Jan. 25 Inside Olympia. (David Streeter)
2SSB 5195: Concerning prescribing opioid overdose reversal medication
WSHA is continuing to seek amendments to 2SSB 5195, although we were pleased to see it pass the Senate 42-2. The bill directs hospital emergency departments and certain behavioral health agencies to provide the anti-overdose medication naloxone to people at risk of an opioid overdose. The numbers of overdose-related deaths are alarming and increasing, and providing the medication at the point of care is an important strategy to reverse that trend. The House Committee on Health Care & Wellness will hear the bill next. (Jaclyn Greenberg)
2SHB 1477: Implementing a 988 line for behavioral health crisis response
WSHA has concerns with 2SHB 1477, although we support the intent of the bill and Washington’s efforts to develop and invest in a centralized crisis system, specifically for behavioral health needs. Recent federal legislation has designated “988” as an alternative to “911,” and the bill sets out the steps Washington needs to take to connect to that system by July 2022, including a tax on phone lines and implementation work. The bill remains alive after cutoff, and conversations around the policy are ongoing. (Jaclyn Greenberg)
Bill still alive after chamber-of-origin cutoff
Bills WSHA supports
| 2SHB 1061 | Relating to youth eligible for developmental disability services who are expected to exit the child welfare system |
| SHB 1074 | Concerning overdose and suicide fatality reviews. |
| SHB 1095 | Concerning the taxation of governmental financial assistance programs addressing the impacts of conditions giving rise to a gubernatorial or presidential emergency proclamation (exempting federal, state, and local COVID grants from B&O tax). WSHA provided significant input on this bill prior to session. |
| HB 1096 | Concerning nonmedicare plans offered through the Washington State health insurance pool. |
| ESHB 1120 | Concerning state of emergency operations impacting long-term services and supports. |
| SHB 1124 | Concerning nurse delegation of glucose monitoring, glucose testing, and insulin injections. |
| ESHB 1196 | Concerning audio-only telemedicine. WSHA strongly support this version of the bill. |
| 2SHB 1325 | Implementing policies related to children and youth behavioral health. |
| HB 1367 | Revising 2019-2021 fiscal biennium appropriations of state and federal funding for previously implemented Medicaid rates and other Medicaid expenditures in the developmental disabilities and long-term care programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| ESHB 1368 | Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through state actions supported by federal funding. |
| HB 1378 | Concerning the supervision of medical assistants. |
| SHB 1445 | Concerning the definition of compounding for purposes of the practice of pharmacy. |
| E2SHB 1504 | Modifying the workforce education investment act. |
| 2SSB 5062 | Concerning the management, oversight, and use of data. |
| E2SSB 5071 | Creating transition teams to assist specified persons under civil commitment. |
| SSB 5073 | Concerning involuntary treatment. |
| ESSB 5074 | Relating to establishing safe station pilot programs for persons in need of substance use disorder treatment. |
| ESSB 5178 | Establishing automatic waivers of select state health care laws to enable timely response by the health care system during a governor-declared statewide state of emergency. |
| SSB 5179 | Concerning blood donation. |
| SSB 5185 | Concerning capacity to provide informed consent for health care decisions. |
| SSB 5236 | Extending certificate of need exemptions for psychiatric beds. |
| SSB 5271 | Amending the necessary elements of proof of injury during the state of emergency declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| SSB 5294 | Concerning the creation of statewide epidemic preparedness and response guidelines for long-term care facilities. |
| 2SSB 5313 | Concerning health insurance discrimination. |
| SSB 5325 | Concerning telemedicine. This version has been modified to apply to community behavioral health providers. |
| ESSB 5370 | Updating mental health advance directive laws. |
| SSB 5423 | Concerning telemedicine consultations. |
Bills WSHA opposes or with which it has concerns
| E2SHB 1073 | Expanding coverage of the paid family and medical leave program. |
| 2SHB 1076 | Allowing whistleblowers to bring actions on behalf of the state for violations of workplace protections. |
| ESHB 1097 | Increasing worker protections. |
| E2SHB 1160 | Concerning health provider contracts. |
| E2SHB 1272 | Concerning health system transparency. |
| ESSB 5097 | Expanding of the paid family and medical leave program. |
| ESSB 5115 | Establishing health emergency labor standards. |
| SSB 5140 | Protecting pregnancy and miscarriage-related patient care. |
| ESSB 5190 | Providing health care workers with presumptive benefits during a public health emergency. |
| 2SSB 5195 | Relating to prescribing opioid overdose reversal medication. |
| E2SSB 5377 | Increasing affordability of standardized plans on the individual market (public option) |
Bills WSHA has gotten amended to neutral or did not take a position on
| E2SHB 1086 | Creating the state office of behavioral health consumer advocacy. WSHA worked to ensure this bill did not create a duplicate regulatory process for hospitals providing behavioral health care. |
| ESHB 1109 | Concerning victims of sexual assault. |
| ESHB 1141 | Increasing access to the death with dignity act. |
| 2SHB 1148 | Protecting patients in acute care hospitals. |
| E2SHB 1152 | Supporting measures to create comprehensive public health districts. |
| 2SHB 1161 | Modifying the requirements for drug take-back programs. |
| ESHB 1197 | Concerning health care decisions made by a designated person. |
| E2SHB 1272 | Relating to health system transparency |
| SHB 1314 | Concerning veteran diversion from involuntary commitment. WSHA worked to ensure efforts to connect people to VA services did not interfere with the involuntary treatment process. |
| SSB 5025 | Concerning the consumer protection improvement act. |
| SSB 5034 | Concerning nonprofit corporations. |
| E2SSB 5052 | Concerning the creation of health equity zones. |
| SSB 5254 | Concerning the use of protective devices and equipment during a public health emergency. WSHA worked to ensure this bill reflected hospital concerns for infection control. |
| ESSB 5268 | Relating to transforming services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by increasing the capabilities of community residential settings and redesigning the long-term nature of intermediate care facilities. |
WSHA Weighing In: March 8-12
WSHA is weighing in on the following bills this week:
Wednesday, March 10
- House Health Care & Wellness
- SSB 5068: Improving maternal health outcomes by extending coverage during the postpartum period. (Shirley Prasad)
- SSB 5236: Extending certificate of need exemptions. See article above. (Shirley Prasad)
- SSB 5423: Concerning telemedicine consultations. (David Streeter)
- House Labor & Workplace Standards
- SB 5046: Concerning workers’ compensation claim resolution settlement agreements.
- Senate Health & Long Term Care
- SHB 1124: Concerning nurse delegation of glucose monitoring, glucose testing, and insulin injections. (Alicia Eyler)
- HB 1096: Concerning nonmedicare plans offered through the Washington state health insurance pool. (Shirley Prasad)
Thursday, March 11
- House Health Care & Wellness
- SSB 5140: Protecting pregnancy and miscarriage-related patient care. See article above. (Zosia Stanley)
- SB 5198: Easing ambulance restrictions in rural areas. (Jacqueline Barton True)
Friday, March 12
- House Labor & Workplace Standards
- ESSB 5115: Establishing health emergency labor standards. See article above. (Alicia Eyler)
- ESSB 5190: Providing health care workers with presumptive benefits during a public health emergency. See article above. (Alicia Eyler)
- Behavioral Health Subcommittee to Senate Health & Long Term Care
- SHB 1074: Concerning overdose and suicide fatality reviews. (Jaclyn Greenberg)
- EHB 1311: Authorizing the issuance of substance use disorder professional certifications to persons participating in apprenticeship programs. (Jaclyn Greenberg)
- 2SHB 1325: Implementing policies related to children and youth behavioral health. (Jaclyn Greenberg)
- Senate Health & Long Term Care
- ESHB 1196: Concerning audio-only telemedicine. See article above. (David Streeter)
- HB 1378: Concerning the supervision of medical assistants. (David Streeter)
