After cutoff: Bills still alive

February 21, 2017

It was an exciting week leading up to Friday’s cutoff for bills to be voted out of their original policy committee. (Cutoff calendar is here.) To make it easy, we’ve listed all of the major bills we’ve been tracking. This is just a partial list; WSHA/AWPHD staff have reviewed more than 300 bills thus far.

Bills that have not moved out of their committee are most likely dead for the session, but nothing is really dead until session is adjourned. Components of “dead” bills can be added to other bills that are still “alive,” and bills that are necessary to implement the budget are exempt from cutoffs. We will be reading amendments very carefully as bills continue to move.

Below is the status of WSHA/AWPHD’s top priority bills that are still alive. Once the cutoff for bills to move from their original house has passed, we will update you about bills that have died. We have successfully opposed a number of important bills that are not moving forward.

Bills WSHA supports

HB 1337 / SB 5221 Creating the interstate medical licensure compact.
HB 1338 / SB 5253 Addressing the Washington state health insurance pool.
HB 1413 / SB 5435 Specifying to whom information and records related to mental health services may be disclosed for the purposes of care coordination and treatment.
HB 1426 Concerning persons and entities to whom the department of health may provide prescription monitoring program data.
HB 1520 Allowing alternative payment methodologies for critical access hospitals participating in the Washington rural health access preservation pilot.
HB 1547 Exempting certain hospitals from certificate of need requirements for the addition of psychiatric beds until June 2019.
HB 1637 / SB 5471 Concerning the reimbursement rate primary care providers receive to participate in medicaid.
HB 1640 Allowing notaries and proof of identity for advance directives.
HB 1641 Concerning informed consent for nonemergency, outpatient, primary health care services for unaccompanied homeless youth under the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act.
HB 1713 / SB 5763 Implementing recommendations from the children’s mental health work group.
HB 1766 Concerning the hospital safety net assessment.
HB 1854 Concerning the transition of medicaid enrollees to skilled nursing facility care.
HB 2107 and SB 5434 Concerning the addition of services for long-term placement of mental health patients in community hospitals that voluntarily contract and are certified by the department of social and health services.
SB 5248 Concerning persons to whom the department of health may provide prescription monitoring program data.
SB 5436 Expanding patient access to health services through telemedicine by further defining where a patient may receive the service.
SB 5456 Concerning unpaid accounts.
SB 5457 Expanding patient access to health services through telemedicine and store and forward technology by requiring parity in payment for services.
SB 5581 Authorizing public hospital districts to participate in self-insurance risk pools with nonprofit hospitals.
SB 5800 Concerning obligations of mental health professionals.

 

Bills AWPHD supports

HB 1594 Improving public records administration.
HB 1595 Concerning costs associated with responding to public records requests.
HB 1932 / 5659 Addressing the eligibility of emergency medical technicians employed by public hospital districts for membership in the law enforcement officers’ and firefighters’ retirement system.

 

Bills that are works in progress for WSHA

HB 1477 Concerning disclosure of health-related information with persons with a close relationship with a patient.

 

Bills WSHA opposes

HB 1339 Providing for restrictions on prescriptions for opioid drugs.
HB 1714 Concerning nursing staffing practices at hospitals.
HB 1715 Addressing meal and rest breaks and mandatory overtime for certain health care employees.
HB 1967 Concerning noncompetition agreements.
HB 2114 Protecting consumers from charges for out-of-network health services.

 

Bills AWPHD opposes

HB 1655 Providing industrial insurance coverage for stress-caused mental disorders and disabilities of members of the law enforcement officers’ and firefighters’ retirement system.
SB 5218 Requiring notification to law enforcement of persons with an arrest warrant who are on public agency property.
SB 5607 Concerning education.

 

Thank you for last week

We are very thankful for everyone who comes to Olympia to testify! Your testimony is essential for helping legislators and the public to understand the real impact of proposed legislation. Last week, we were pleased to have testimony from:

  • Syd Bersante, CHI Franciscan Health
  • Geri Forbes, WhidbeyHealth
  • Matt Lund, UW Medicine/Harborview Medical Center
  • Dr. Michael Anderson, CHI Franciscan Health

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Washington State Hospital Association
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Seattle, WA 98104

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info@wsha.org

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