The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospital and hospital systems about Substitute House Bill 2457, which creates the state Health Care Cost Transparency Board (“Board”). The Board’s objective is to determine the annual total health care expenditures and growth in Washington state and establish a health care cost growth benchmark (“Benchmark”). The Board will compare health care provider’s expenditures to the Benchmark and release reports that identify those that exceed the Benchmark. Due to WSHA’s advocacy, when determining the Benchmark, the Board will include and consider the cost drivers of health care. ... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals and health care systems about changes in law related to health plan prior authorization practice and data pursuant to Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6404. Certain health insurance carriers will be required to provide the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) information related to prior authorization requests. OIC will provide the information in a publicly available, aggregated report in January 2021. ... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals and health systems that provide “adult care, mental health, addiction, disability support, or youth services” as contractors of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) about a new contractual requirement to provide an assurance that such services will not be disrupted or delayed by economic or industrial action. The requirement applies to new contracts and renewals of existing contracts as of June 11, 2020, under a new law SB 6096.... Read More >>

Purpose The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals about two important changes impacting workers’ compensation. The key changes are: Penalties for noncompliance with workers’ compensation rules will increase, effective September 1, 2020. Independent medical examinations must take place under specified circumstances within an injured workers’ community or via telemedicine, effective January 1, 2021.... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals about the new pharmacy rules that took effect July 1, 2020. This bulletin contains an overview of the substantive changes and recommended next steps.... Read More >>

On July 1, the Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and Senate extended Gov. Inslee’s proclamation addressing telemedicine payment parity for commercial health plans.... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals and health systems about recent changes modernizing Washington’s laws on certain communicable diseases, specifically human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). These changes are in effect now. ... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals about new deadlines for important changes related to the prescribing of opioids and controlled substances: The Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) Electronic Health Records (EHR) integration mandate has been extended and is now effective September 30, 2021 (originally January 1, 2021).... Read More >>

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform hospitals and health systems of significant changes to the regulations implementing section 1557, the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). ... Read More >>

This bulletin is to inform hospitals and health systems about recent legislation enacted in the 2020 legislative session requiring telemedicine payment parity and changes to the coverage of use of store-and-forward technology in Senate Bill 5385, and new telemedicine training requirements in Senate Bill 6061. This bulletin also includes useful information and resources regarding recent temporary changes to telemedicine billing practices in Medicaid, Medicare and commercial health plans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ... Read More >>