On March 31, 2022, Governor Inslee signed E2SHB 1688 (Chap. 263, Laws of 2022) which aligns portions of the state’s Balance Billing Protection Act to the federal No Surprises Act and adds new provisions. The law went into effect on that date. WSHA is in the process of drafting a Bulletin to members summarizing key components of E2SHB 1688 which will be released soon. The state Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) is providing a series of Zoom webinars regarding E2SHB 1688 and the changes. There are five separate webinars with specific content for carriers, arbitrators, behavioral health providers and organizations, consumers, and providers, but interested parties can register for any that are of interest at the links below.
- Webinar for carriers:
April 28th, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Register for the webinar via zoom - Webinar for arbitrators:
April 29th, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Register for the webinar via zoom - Webinar for behavioral health providers and organizations:
May 2nd, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. Register for the webinar via zoom - Webinar for consumers:
May 3rd, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. Register for the webinar via zoom - Webinar for providers:
May 5th, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. Register for the webinar via zoom
Section 13 of the law directs OIC to develop standard template language for a notice of consumer rights that informs consumers of their balance billing protections under the BBPA and the NSA. OIC has updated its E2SHB 1688 Consumer Notice to better align with statutory requirements and meet both BBPA and NSA requirements. Health plans subject to the BBPA, carriers, providers and facilities must provide the revised notice to patients and post on their website beginning May 6, 2022. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)
