Committee hears bipartisan push to modernize state all‑payers claims database

The Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee heard engrossed House Bill 1382 on March 20. Committee staff briefed the panel that the bill would modernize the state’s all‑payers claims database (APCD) by allowing the Health Care Authority (HCA) to operate as the lead organization if a third‑party vendor is not selected, updating definitions related to proprietary financial information, and changing the frequency of the Office of Financial Management’s reporting requirement from biannually to every five years.

Representative Steve Tharinger, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the change aligns the APCD with federal transparency and coverage rules that require disclosure of negotiated rates. HCA and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner testified in support, describing ways the APCD is used to analyze prices, utilization, and to produce dashboards for policymakers and researchers. Supporters argued that making negotiated‑rate information more accessible will help employers, purchasers, researchers and communities identify outliers and design better purchasing strategies.

Opponents, including the Association of Washington Healthcare Plans and the Washington State Hospital Association, cautioned that releasing negotiated rates could create antitrust risks or a “race to the top” in pricing. Hospital and insurer witnesses suggested safeguards and asked for the ability to validate third‑party analyses; hospitals requested statutory language assuring associations access to the same datasets for verification purposes. Proponents said federal rules already require much of this information be published and that Washington should align state statute with federal transparency.

Committee staff announced the public sign‑in totals for this hearing as 27 pro, 552 con, and 3 other. No committee final action on HB 1382 was recorded in the public hearing portion of this transcript.