Legacy Health, MultiCare disputes raise access concerns for some Washington communities

Agency staff updated the board on a string of network disputes that have moved into public view and, in some cases, reached termination status for subsets of provider networks.

Dave described a complicated Legacy Health dispute in the Portland market that produced a mix of outcomes: some providers were not on the contract timeline and remained in network, some were technically out of network on paper but protected by a continuation‑of‑service clause (treated as in‑network from a claims standpoint for up to 12 months), and others were truly out of network as of April 1. “Legacy… became a termination situation,” he said.

Dave also previewed a MultiCare negotiation he said could affect Thurston, Yakima and Grays Harbor County providers with a potential May 10 termination date if parties failed to reach agreement. Public commenters raised the local impact: Laura Leffler of Yakima told the board that MultiCare is the primary hospital system in her county and that a withdrawal would jeopardize access for many public‑sector and school district employees. The agency advised members to consult the HCA landing pages created for each dispute and to contact Regions Blue Shield to confirm individual provider status.

Staff said most disputes are resolved before an actual termination but cautioned that the frequency of public disputes has risen since the pandemic and that HCA has prepared mitigations, including special open enrollment mechanisms if a genuine termination forces members to change plans.