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HB1344 • 2026

Respite care

Increasing access to respite care for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their caregivers.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Representative Barnard, Representative Cortes, Representative Dufault, Representative Couture, Representative Farivar, Representative Reed, Representative Hill, Representative Valdez, Representative Taylor, Representative Pollet, Representative Nance, Representative Gregerson, Representative Callan
Last action
2026-01-12
Official status
H Approps
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Respite care

Respite care

What This Bill Does

  • Respite care

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-12 House

    By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

Official Summary Text

Respite care

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
AN ACT Relating to increasing access to respite care for those 1
with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their caregivers; 2
adding a new section to chapter 71A.12 RCW; and creating a new 3
section. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that respite care is 6
an essential component of waiver services as it provides much needed 7
breaks to the main caregiver of a person with intellectual or 8
developmental disabilities, as well as to the person being cared for. 9
Respite care is a popular service with a high usage rate, but many 10
people need additional respite care in order to live independently in 11
the community, and their main caregivers need additional breaks from 12
caregiving.13
The legislature therefore declares that given the fundamental 14
importance of respite care to both the caregiver and the person being 15
cared for, in addition to the respite care currently offered, respite 16
care should be added to the aggregate portion of the basic plus and 17
children's intensive in-home behavioral support waivers so that 18
aggregate funds can be accessed for respite care without prior 19
administrative approval once the annual assessed hours have been 20
exhausted. 21
H-0324.2
HOUSE BILL 1344
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Barnard, Cortes, Dufault, Couture, Farivar, Reed,
Hill, Caldier, Taylor, Pollet, Nance, Gregerson, and Callan
Read first time 01/16/25. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
Human Services.
p. 1 HB 1344
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 71A.12 1
RCW to read as follows: 2
(1) By September 1, 2025, the department shall submit a waiver 3
amendment to the centers for medicare and medicaid services to add 4
respite care to the list of aggregate services available under the 5
basic plus waiver and the children's intensive in-home behavioral 6
support waiver. For purposes of the children's intensive in-home 7
behavioral support waiver, "aggregate services" refers to the service 8
cluster that most closely resembles the list of aggregate services 9
under the basic plus waiver. 10
(2) Upon the approval from the centers for medicare and medicaid 11
services, the department shall immediately update the basic plus and 12
children's intensive in-home behavioral support waivers to include 13
respite care as an aggregate service. 14
(3) The department may adopt rules as necessary to implement the 15
requirements in this section. 16
--- END ---
p. 2 HB 1344