Bill to create state health-care entity registry draws broad support, hospitals raise implementation concerns

House Bill 16-86, a proposal to create a statewide health-care entity registry and public dashboard, drew widespread support from public-interest groups, regulators and purchasers at Wednesday's House Health Care & Wellness Committee hearing, while hospitals and some provider groups urged narrowing and careful phasing to avoid duplicative reporting burdens.

Staff outlined the bill's scope: beginning June 30, 2027, reporting entities would provide the Department of Health with organizational details including legal name and addresses, ownership and controlling interests, organizational charts, governing‑board names and compensation, comprehensive financial reports, and provider‑level information for facilities. The Department would be required to build an interactive public tool by Jan. 1, 2028, and could share data with other state agencies, audit filings, and assess fines for incomplete or false reports.

Supporters — including Northwest Health Law Advocates, the Economic Opportunity Institute, and purchasers represented by the Puget Sound Health Alliance — said the registry would fill a longstanding gap, enabling policymakers to spot consolidation trends, workforce shortages and access gaps. "We don't have a comprehensive map of health care providers and facilities in our state that would allow us to identify capacity gaps," testified Emily Brial of Northwest Health Law Advocates.

Hospital witnesses and the Washington State Medical Association said they support transparency but raised operational concerns. Lisa Thatcher of the Washington State Hospital Association described Section 3 (the interactive tool) as sensible but said Section 2's broad reporting definitions risked capturing non‑health activities (parking, laundry, administrative billers) and could require reporting thousands of provider-level records per hospital. She urged specificity and coordination with existing reporting to avoid duplicative filings.

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner told the committee it supports a centralized registry and offered to coordinate data exchange; the office noted that domestic insurers already file detailed financial reports but entities domiciled out of state do not file identical information locally. The Department of Health signaled it would work with stakeholders but warned the agency does not currently collect all items proposed and that building the registry will require significant outreach and tracking.

The bill's proposed fines and the scope of required information drew particular scrutiny. Several witnesses suggested phasing the reporting requirements or narrowing items to those required for the public dashboard. The committee took no final action on the bill during the hearing.