Senate Bill 5453 proposes to allow ambulatory surgical facilities to add “recovery care centers” that would care for post-surgical patients for an extended 48 hours after surgery, in addition to the currently permitted time of 23 hours and 59 minutes. This is a slightly modified version from last year’s bill, also opposed by WSHA.... Read More >>

The Senate Government Operations & Security Committee held a public hearing on Monday regarding three bills that impose unnecessary restrictions on public hospital districts. WSHA and AWPHD strongly oppose these bills, which place unnecessary restrictions on public hospital districts.... Read More >>

A summary of the bills WSHA will testify on from Jan. 19-22.... Read More >>

We are very thankful for everyone who came down to testify! Your testimony is essential for helping legislators and the public to understand the real impact of proposed legislation. The following people testified last week: • Laurene Burton, EvergreenHealth • Ty Heim, EvergreenHealt... Read More >>

The 2016 legislative session is now underway, and this year’s session is slated to be a short one. This year, a supplemental budget year, our top budget priority is mental health, which Governor Jay Inslee also identified as a major need in his December supplemental budget. We are hoping to continue the gains in mental health funding that began last year.... Read More >>

We are getting ready for the 2016 legislative session, and are excited to invite you to our legislative session kickoff webcast. Cassie Sauer, Claudia Sanders and Mary Kay Clunies-Ross will talk about WSHA’s top priorities for the session, as well as how recent leadership changes might affect health care legislation this year. It’s scheduled to... Read More >>

Governor Inslee today released his revisions to the 2015-2017 biennial budget, placing priority on education, relief for the state’s devastating 2015 wildfires and urgent mental health needs. The Governor had an additional $245 million in revenue to work with, in part thanks to the state’s economic growth. He also proposed closing tax loopholes and spending money out of the budget stabilization account. He faced a number of issues requiring significant spending – including paying for last summer’s wildfires and increasing prescription drug costs.... Read More >>

The Washington State Legislature has narrowly avoided a complete shutdown of state services by agreeing on operating and capital budgets for Fiscal Years 2015-2017. The Governor has announced his intention to sign the operating budget, likely this evening. The compromise budget is very good for hospitals and health care overall. This was a particularly challenging... Read More >>

Senate Republicans proposed a new budget today that includes new revenue expectations including those from anticipated cannabis revenues and increased federal funding. Hospital Safety Net Assessment:  The Senate makes no improvement to its proposal for the hospital safety net assessment, an area of intense concern for WSHA and member hospital and health systems. The Senate maintains... Read More >>

On Monday, April 20, WSHA testified at the House Appropriations Committee about the Senate version of the Hospital Safety Net Assessment bill, SSB 6045. We very much appreciate the expert testimony from our members, who were instrumental in helping the committee understand the negative impact of the Senate’s bill: Sarah Patterson, Executive Vice President and... Read More >>