Health care entity registry

AN ACT Relating to creating a health care entity registry; adding 1
a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; and prescribing penalties.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 4
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 5
otherwise.6
(1) "Affiliate" means: 7
(a) A person, entity, or organization that directly, indirectly, 8
or through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or 9
is under common control or ownership of another person, entity, or 10
organization; 11
(b) A person whose business is operated under a lease, 12
management, or operating agreement by another entity, or a person 13
substantially all of whose property is operated under a management or 14
operating agreement with that other entity; 15
(c) An entity that operates the business or substantially all the 16
property of another entity under a lease, management, or operating 17
agreement; or 18
(d) Any out-of-state operations and corporate affiliates of an 19
affiliate as defined in this subsection, including significant equity 20
H-0918.1
HOUSE BILL 1686
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Bronoske, Fosse, Reed, Scott, Nance, Hill, and
Macri
Read first time 01/29/25. Referred to Committee on Health Care &
Wellness.
p. 1 HB 1686
investors, health care real estate investment trusts, and management 1
services organizations. 2
(2) "Control," including the terms "controlling," "controlled 3
by," and "under common control with," means the direct or indirect 4
power through ownership, contractual agreement, or otherwise to vote 5
10 percent or more of any class of voting shares of a health care 6
entity or to direct the actions or policies of the specified entity.7
(3) "Department" means the department of health.8
(4) "Health care entity" means a health care provider as defined 9
in RCW 70.02.010, health care facility as defined in RCW 48.43.005, 10
provider organization, health care benefit manager as defined in RCW 11
48.200.020, or carrier as defined in RCW 48.43.005.12
(5) "Management services organization" means any organization or 13
entity that contracts with a health care provider, health care 14
facility, or provider organization to perform management or 15
administrative services relating to, supporting, or facilitating the 16
provision of health care services. 17
(6) "Private equity fund" means a publicly traded or nonpublicly 18
traded company that collects capital investments from individuals or 19
entities and purchases a direct or indirect ownership share or 20
controlling interest of a health care entity. 21
(7) "Provider organization" means any corporation, partnership, 22
business trust, association, or organized group of persons that is in 23
the business of health care delivery or management, whether 24
incorporated or not, that represents one or more health care 25
providers in contracting with carriers for the payments of health 26
care services. "Provider organization" includes, but is not limited 27
to, physician organizations, physician-hospital organizations, 28
independent practice associations, provider networks, accountable 29
care organizations, management services organizations, and any other 30
organization that contracts with carriers for payment for health care 31
services. 32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) Beginning June 30, 2027, and annually 33
thereafter, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, 34
each health care entity shall report to the department on an annual 35
basis, in a form and manner determined by the department, the 36
following information:37
(a) The legal name of the entity; 38
(b) The business address; 39
p. 2 HB 1686
(c) The addresses of all locations of operations;1
(d) Applicable business identification numbers including, but not 2
limited to, taxpayer identification number, national provider 3
identifier, employer identification number, centers for medicare and 4
medicaid services certification number, national association of 5
insurance commissioners identification number, or health care benefit 6
manager registration number; 7
(e) A name and contact information of a representative of the 8
health care entity; 9
(f) The name, business address, and business identification 10
numbers, as applicable, for each person or entity that:11
(i) Has an ownership or investment interest in the health care 12
entity including, but not limited to, participation from a private 13
equity fund; 14
(ii) Has a controlling interest in the health care entity; or15
(iii) Is contracted as a management services organization with 16
the health care entity; 17
(g) A current organizational chart showing the business structure 18
of the health care entity, including any person or entity listed in 19
(f) of this subsection, affiliates, and subsidiaries of the health 20
care entity; 21
(h) The names, compensation, and affiliation with any other 22
health care entity of the members of the governing board, board of 23
directors, or similar governance body for the health care entity, any 24
entity that is owned or controlled by, affiliated with, or under 25
common control with the health care entity, and any entity listed in 26
(f) of this subsection; 27
(i) Comprehensive financial reports of the health care entity and 28
any entities having ownership or control over the health care entity, 29
as determined by the department in rule. In promulgating rules, the 30
department shall consider information already collected through 31
existing reporting requirements; and 32
(j) For a health care entity that is a provider organization or a 33
health care facility: 34
(i) The name, license type, specialty, and applicable 35
identification number of each health care provider providing care at 36
that entity, the address of the principal practice location of each 37
provider, and whether that provider is employed by or contracted with 38
the entity; and 39
p. 3 HB 1686
(ii) The name and address of any affiliated health care 1
facilities by license number, and facilities or services under the 2
primary license, license type, and capacity in each major service 3
area. 4
(2) Health care entities shall report the information required 5
under this section at no cost to the department. 6
(3) The following health care entities are exempt from the 7
reporting requirements under subsection (1) of this section:8
(a) Independent health care provider organizations consisting of 9
two or fewer providers; and 10
(b) Health care provider organizations that are owned or 11
controlled by a reporting health care entity, if the health care 12
provider organization is shown in the organizational chart submitted 13
under subsection (1)(g) of this section and the controlling health 14
care entity reports all the information required under subsection (1) 15
of this section on behalf of the health care provider organization.16
(4) Information provided under this section shall be considered 17
public information and may not be considered confidential, 18
proprietary, or a trade secret, except that an individual health care 19
provider's taxpayer identification number that is also their social 20
security number shall be confidential. 21
(5) The department may share information reported under this 22
section with the office of the attorney general, other state 23
agencies, and other state officials to reduce or avoid duplication in 24
reporting requirements or to facilitate oversight or enforcement 25
pursuant to the laws of the state, provided that any tax 26
identification numbers that are individual social security numbers 27
may only be shared with other agencies if they agree to maintain the 28
confidentiality of such information. The department may, in 29
consultation with the relevant state agencies, merge similar 30
reporting requirements where appropriate. 31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) By January 1, 2028, the department 32
shall develop an interactive tool to allow the public to search and 33
view the following information submitted by health care entities 34
based on the previous year's data submitted pursuant to section 2 of 35
this act:36
(a) The number of health care entities reporting that year, 37
disaggregated by the business structure of each specified entity;38
p. 4 HB 1686
(b) The name, address, and business structure of each reporting 1
health care entity; 2
(c) The name, address, and business structure of any entity with 3
an ownership or controlling interest in a reporting health care 4
entity; 5
(d) The name, address, and business structure of any:6
(i) Affiliates or subsidiaries of the reporting health care 7
entity; and 8
(ii) Management services organizations contracted or affiliated 9
with the reporting health care entity; 10
(e) Any change in ownership or control for each reporting health 11
care entity; and 12
(f) An analysis of trends in horizontal and vertical 13
consolidation, disaggregated by business structure and provider type.14
(2) The department shall update the data available through this 15
tool at least once annually. 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The department may audit and inspect 17
the records of any health care entity that has failed to submit 18
complete information pursuant to section 2 of this act or if the 19
department has reason to question the accuracy or completeness of the 20
information submitted pursuant to section 2 of this act.21
(2) If a health care entity fails to provide a complete report 22
under section 2 of this act, or submits a report containing false 23
information, such entity shall be subject to a civil penalty as 24
follows: 25
(a) Health care entities consisting of independent health care 26
providers or provider organizations without any third-party ownership 27
or control entities, with 10 or fewer physicians or less than 28
$10,000,000 in annual revenue, the penalty shall not exceed $50,000 29
for each report not provided or containing false information.30
(b) For all other health care entities, the penalty shall not 31
exceed $500,000 for each report not provided or containing false 32
information. 33
(3) The department may consult with and refer instances of 34
noncompliance to the office of the attorney general.35
(4) Any civil penalty recovered under this section shall go 36
toward costs associated with implementing this act.37
p. 5 HB 1686
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The department may adopt any rules 1
necessary to implement this act, including necessary fees.2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Sections 1 through 5 of this act 3
constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.4
--- END ---
p. 6 HB 1686