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Senate committee hears technical fix to let anesthesiologist assistants join physician health program
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Summary
A Senate Health Committee hearing considered SB 5877, a technical change to extend a $70 surcharge and Washington Physicians Health Program access to certified anesthesiologist assistants; witnesses from the Washington Medical Commission, WPHP and anesthesia associations supported the bill as a narrow fix to close a licensure gap.
Senate Bill 5877, a one-sentence technical correction to licensing statutes, was the subject of a brief public hearing before the Washington State Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee. Committee staff described the bill as expanding the list of license categories that pay the $70 surcharge that funds the Washington Physicians Health Program (WPHP) and grants participating providers access to WPHP services and the HEALWA education library.
Jacob Ewing, staff to the committee, told the panel the bill clarifies that the surcharge applies to anesthesiologist assistants so those providers can participate in confidential monitoring and early-intervention services administered by WPHP. "Paying the surcharge will allow anesthesiologist assistants to participate in the physician health program," Ewing said.
Taylor Bacharach Nixon, representing the Washington Medical Commission, said CAAs (certified anesthesiologist assistants) were licensed in Washington in 2024 to help address anesthesia workforce shortages and that the omission was an unintended statutory gap. "This bill looks to prevent similar gaps in the future by automatically expanding these programs to any new professions," Nixon said.
Carolyn Logan, speaking for the Washington Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants, said the profession is new in the state and that access to WPHP and HEALWA will be useful for the small number of licensed CAAs. Chris Bundy, executive medical director of WPHP, voiced the program’s willingness to enroll the profession and described WPHP as a 40-year-old monitoring program serving other Medical Commission licensees.
Committee members did not take a vote; staff recorded 12 pro, 2 con and 0 other sign-ins for the SB 5877 hearing. No fiscal concerns were raised during testimony and committee staff indicated the bill was intended as a narrow technical fix to ensure parity of regulatory support across license classes.
The committee closed the SB 5877 hearing with no formal action recorded; any further steps (possible amendments or scheduling for a vote) would be set by the committee’s future agenda.
