Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee advances nine health bills in executive session

The Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee met in executive session on March 27 and, by voice vote, recommended passage of nine House bills addressing a range of health policy issues, sending several to Ways and Means or Rules for further action.

Why it matters: The bills cover state-level changes to behavioral health crisis response, Medicaid service procurement, data-sharing for price transparency, scope and reimbursement issues for clinicians, and program rules that would affect providers and patients statewide.

The committee, chaired by Senator Cleveland, opened the session to consider only specified substitute and engrossed House bills. Committee counsel Greg Adonasio and staff briefed members on each bill and on technical or striking amendments before the votes.

Votes at a glance

- Substitute House Bill 1186 (sponsored by Rep. Parsley): Expands situations in which medications may be dispensed or delivered from hospitals and health care entities. The committee adopted amendment S2492.1, which prohibits separate billing outside of bundled payments for drugs dispensed under the act, and then recommended the bill pass. Outcome: passed (voice vote; passed subject to signatures).

- Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1291 (cost sharing for maternity services, sponsored by Rep. Rule): Committee adopted a striking amendment clarifying that the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) has rulemaking authority only for section 1 of the act, then recommended the bill pass. Outcome: passed (voice vote).

- Engrossed House Bill 1382 (modernizing the All-Payers Claims Database, sponsored by Rep. Thuringer): The committee considered two amendments (one withdrawn and one by Senator Cleveland that was also withdrawn), discussed that the bill would expand explicit access for providers, hospitals, carriers and associations to non-identifiable APCD data for specified purposes, and recommended the bill pass. Outcome: passed (voice vote).

- Second substitute House Bill 1427 (certified peer support specialists, sponsored by Rep. Davis): A striking amendment (S2494.1) removing a requirement that contracted entities provide technical assistance for billing insurers was offered and then withdrawn; the bill was sent to Ways and Means with a two‑pass recommendation. Outcome: passed (subject to signatures; referred to Ways and Means).

- In‑gross substitute House Bill 1430 (APRN and physician assistant reimbursement, sponsored by Rep. Simmons): No amendments were pending at executive session; the committee recommended the bill pass and sent it to Ways and Means. Outcome: passed (voice vote).

- Engrossed second substitute House Bill 1432 (access to mental health and substance use disorder services, sponsored by Rep. Simmons): A striking amendment clarified standards for use of clinical decision support tools and removed specific example sources from the definition of generally accepted standards; the amendment was adopted and the bill was recommended to Ways and Means. Outcome: passed (voice vote).

- House Bill 1755 (exempting elective percutaneous coronary interventions in certain state-owned hospitals from certificate-of-need requirements, sponsored by Rep. Street): No amendments; the committee recommended the bill pass and sent it to Rules. Outcome: passed (voice vote).

- Substitute House Bill 1811 (enhancing crisis response services through core response integration and support, sponsored by Rep. Salahuddin): The committee adopted a striking amendment and an amendment to that striking amendment directing the University of Washington School of Social Work to establish an optional crisis responder training academy (deadline 01/01/2026 for initial implementation, expansion to all BHASOs by 01/01/2027) and otherwise clarifying that the certification is optional and not an additional licensing requirement. The bill was recommended to Ways and Means. Outcome: passed (voice vote). The committee also noted that if the amendment to the striking amendment were adopted the bill’s referral would change from Rules to Ways and Means.

- Engrossed second substitute House Bill 1813 (reprocurement of medical assistance services including realignment of behavioral health crisis services for Medicaid enrollees, sponsored by Rep. Macri): A striking amendment (S2482.1) removed several prior requirements (including a base regional crisis model requirement, certain electronic submission deadlines, and automatic budget adjustments) and changed some required technical assistance provisions to discretionary assistance by HCA. The amendment was adopted and the bill was recommended to Ways and Means. Outcome: passed (voice vote).

Discussion and context

Committee members asked technical questions in several instances. Senator Robinson urged adoption of the amendment to HB 1186, saying the intention of the amendment is “to ensure that patients are not separately billed for the medication that they receive” in emergency settings. Staff confirmed that data releases from the APCD may continue to carry a cost and that the bill would add explicit statutory paths for specified entities to request non‑identifiable APCD data. Senator Mazal emphasized the difficulty of balancing patient and provider impacts in this committee, calling the work “deep” and “profound” and thanking staff for their efforts.

Most bills were advanced by voice vote; committee records show repeated use of striking amendments and technical corrections to align statutory language, clarify agency rulemaking authority, or remove previously proposed mandates (for example, removing some electronic submission timelines and base model requirements from HB 1813). Several items were forwarded to the Ways and Means Committee because of fiscal or procurement implications.

Ending

After votes, the committee exited executive session, the chair and members publicly thanked committee counsel and staff, and members were informed of the cancellation of the next two scheduled committee meetings. Further detail on each bill, including full amendment text and committee reports, will appear in subsequent committee records and the bills’ legislative histories.