Committee moves one bill to rules, holds hearings on four health bills

The Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee met Jan. 21 and took one formal committee action in executive session and held public hearings on multiple bills.

In executive session the committee advanced Senate Bill 5084, concerning health‑care reporting, by voice vote and gave it a “due pass” recommendation to be referred to the Rules Committee. The motion to recommend the bill for passage was made on the floor of the executive session and the chair called for aye/nay; the committee chair announced the bill had passed the committee "subject to signatures." No roll‑call tally was recorded in the hearing transcript.

The committee also held hearings on the following bills:

- Senate Bill 5075 (proposed substitute): Would prohibit health plans from imposing cost sharing for prenatal and postnatal services beginning in 2026; the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) provided staff briefing and said its actuary Milliman estimated premium impacts of roughly $0.30–$1.01 per member per month for eliminating prenatal cost sharing and $0.04–$0.10 for postnatal cost sharing depending on plan type; witnesses in favor included the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), lactation‑support advocates, and others. OIC noted a technical clarification in Milliman’s analysis and said it would provide a revised report.

- Senate Bill 5051: Would consolidate nursing‑assistant regulatory authority under the Washington State Board of Nursing, increase the board from 15 to 17 members to add direct nursing‑assistant representation, and update nursing‑assistant scope and definition to explicitly include long‑term care worker roles; the Board of Nursing testified in support and cited alignment benefits for education, credentialing and discipline. No committee vote was taken at the hearing.

- Senate Bill 5239: Would change hospital medical‑record retention from discharge‑based timing to a 26‑year retention period measured from the record creation date; UW Medicine and Providence testified in support and asked for a clarifying amendment to account for operational record formats and to ensure the timeline covers statutes of limitations and the statute of repose for minors.

Committee members asked clarifying questions of staff, sponsors and witnesses on each bill; several witnesses offered technical suggestions and asked to work with sponsors on clarifications in statutory language (for SB 5075 and SB 5239). No final committee votes on the three bills heard in public session were recorded in the transcript for Jan. 21.

Actions recorded in the transcript

- Senate Bill 5084 — Motion: "bill receive a due pass recommendation to be sent to rules committee"; outcome: approved in executive session and "subject to signatures" (no roll call).

- Senate Bills 5075, 5051, 5239 — public hearings only on Jan. 21; no committee votes recorded in the transcript from this meeting.