On Friday, the House Health Care & Wellness Committee will hold a public hearing for House Bill 2450, which would give critical access hospitals taking part in a pilot program the ability to return to critical access status if they so choose when the pilot is complete. (The pilot program will test a new payment and delivery model for Medicaid patients. Read the issue brief here.) There is currently a moratorium on Critical Access Hospitals under state law.
WSHA is working to develop this pilot as part of the Healthier Washington initiative. This work, known as the Washington Rural Health Access Preservation (WRHAP) project, provides an opportunity for approximately a dozen of Washington’s smallest CAHs to model and test new delivery and payment innovations.
This bill is a priority for WSHA, and we will testify in favor of it to support crucial innovation that sustains access to essential health services throughout Washington.
For more information, contact Jacqueline Barton True (206/216-2541).
