News

During the 2022 legislative session, policymakers passed SSB 5821 that directs the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to evaluate the state's cardiac and stroke emergency response system.... Read More >>

On April 18, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its proposed FY 2023 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule.... Read More >>

New Medicaid inpatient and outpatient hospital payment rates will be in effect July 1, 2022, due to the Washington State Health Care Authority’s (HCA) rebasing of its prospective payment methodologies. The changes apply to hospitals that receive Medicaid payment from the Health Care Authority or managed care organizations (MCOs) for inpatient and outpatient services paid... Read More >>

Washington hospitals should be judged based on their own performance, not by the experiences in other states. Also, when comparing hospital performance across states, data should be adjusted for case mix as well as per capita hospital use. That was some of the advice given to the state’s Health Care Cost Transparency Board during a... Read More >>

The state operating budget (ESSB 5693) passed during the last legislative session included $8 million in funding for hospitals in financial distress. The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA)  is opening the application period for the distressed hospital grants authorized by the legislature.  HCA will have two grant application periods with $4 million each period.... Read More >>

On May 18 the Health Care Cost Transparency Board (HCCTB) unanimously passed a motion authorizing the Board to seek additional data to inform its work, such as available data from Medicare hospital cost reports. Prior to passing this motion, the Board heard a report about Colorado hospital financial metrics, which raised significant issues with prices... Read More >>

A recent analysis of hospital claims data by the RAND Corporation determined that commercial payment rates for Washington hospitals are among the lowest in the nation, when compared to Medicare payment for the same services. According to the analysis, the aggregate differential for Washington hospitals was the third lowest among the 49 states and District... Read More >>

The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) recently posted the slide decks for their recent webinars detailing changes to state law to align the state’s Balance Billing Protection Act (BBPA) with the federal No Surprises Act (NSA) and expand the BBPA balance billing protections to include crisis behavioral health services. OIC is in... Read More >>

The Washington Health Care Authority is seeking survey responses from primary care provider groups related to their capacity to adopt the Primary Care Transformation Model. Specifically, HCA needs to understand clinic’s/practice’s current capacities and needs as it designs a sustainable primary care model for patients, providers, payers, and purchasers. Additionally, HCA seeks to determine to... Read More >>

WSHA continues to update its New Law Implementation Guide, which provides links to bulletins, webinars, and other resources for implementation of legislation passed during the last few legislative sessions. Recently released bulletins include: Hospitals Must Adopt Pathogen Policy By January 1, 2023 (HB 1739) Bulletin – Effective January 1, 2023 New Discharge Notification Requirements for... Read More >>