State health plan

AN ACT Relating to updating and modernizing the Washington state 1
health plan; amending RCW 43.370.010, 43.370.020, and 43.370.030; and 2
creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) In 1987, as directed by the state 5
health planning and resources development act, the state health 6
coordinating council released the state health plan, which set forth 7
objectives for the improvement of health status and development of 8
health services in the state. The plan included recommendations on 9
improving the health status of Washingtonians, improving access and 10
quality of care, containing health care cost growth, and planning for 11
long-term care needs.12
(2) In 2006, the legislature created the blue ribbon commission 13
on health care costs and access. The commission was tasked with 14
developing a five-year plan for substantially improving access to 15
affordable health care for all Washington residents. In 2007, the 16
legislature enacted several recommendations from the commission 17
including directing the office of financial management to develop a 18
statewide health resource strategy to establish statewide health 19
planning policies and goals related to the availability of health 20
care facilities and services, quality of care, and cost of care. 21
S-0603.2
SENATE BILL 5568
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Cleveland, Cortes, Nobles, and Riccelli
Read first time 01/29/25. Referred to Committee on Health & Long-
Term Care.
p. 1 SB 5568
Certificate of need determinations must be consistent with that 1
strategy. 2
(3) In 2024, the legislature directed the department of health to 3
conduct an analysis of the certificate of need program and report its 4
findings and recommendations for statutory updates by June 30, 2025. 5
Under this determination, the department must, at a minimum, consider 6
other state approaches to certificates of need, impacts on access to 7
care, cost control of health services, and equity, and approaches to 8
identifying health care service needs at the statewide and community 9
levels. 10
(4) The legislature intends to renew efforts to develop a 11
sustainable state health plan and resource strategy by updating 12
duties assigned to the office of financial management in chapter 13
43.370 RCW. 14
Sec. 2. RCW 43.370.010 and 2007 c 259 s 50 are each amended to 15
read as follows: 16
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 17
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 18
(1) "Health care provider" means an individual who holds a 19
license issued by a disciplining authority identified in RCW 20
18.130.040 and who practices his or her profession in a health care 21
facility or provides a health service. 22
(2) "Health facility" or "facility" means hospices licensed under 23
chapter 70.127 RCW, hospitals licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW, rural 24
health care facilities as defined in RCW 70.175.020, ((psychiatric)) 25
behavioral health hospitals licensed under chapter 71.12 RCW, nursing 26
homes licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW, community mental health 27
centers licensed under chapter 71.05 or 71.24 RCW, kidney disease 28
treatment centers under chapter 70.38 RCW, ambulatory diagnostic, 29
treatment, or surgical facilities under chapter 70.230 RCW, drug and 30
alcohol treatment facilities licensed under chapter ((70.96A)) 71.24 31
RCW, and home health agencies licensed under chapter 70.127 RCW, and 32
includes such facilities if owned and operated by a political 33
subdivision, including a public hospital district, or instrumentality 34
of the state and such other facilities as required by federal law and 35
implementing regulations. 36
(3) "Health service" or "service" means that service, including 37
primary care service, offered or provided by health care facilities 38
p. 2 SB 5568
and health care providers relating to the prevention, cure, or 1
treatment of illness, injury, or disease. 2
(4) "Health service area" means a geographic region appropriate 3
for effective health planning that includes a broad range of health 4
services. 5
(5) "Office" means the office of financial management.6
(6) "Strategy" means the statewide health resources strategy.7
Sec. 3. RCW 43.370.020 and 2010 1st sp.s. c 7 s 113 are each 8
amended to read as follows: 9
(1) The office shall serve as a coordinating body for public and 10
private efforts to improve quality in health care, promote cost-11
effectiveness in health care, and plan health facility and health 12
service availability. ((In addition, the office shall facilitate 13
access to health care data collected by public and private 14
organizations as needed to conduct its planning responsibilities.))15
(2) The office shall: 16
(a) Conduct strategic health planning activities related to the 17
preparation of the strategy, as specified in this chapter;18
(b) Develop a computerized system for accessing, analyzing, and 19
disseminating data relevant to strategic health planning 20
responsibilities. The office may contract with an organization to 21
create the computerized system capable of meeting the needs of the 22
office; 23
(c) Have access to the information submitted as part of the 24
health professional licensing application and renewal process, 25
excluding social security number and background check information, 26
whether the license is issued by the secretary of the department of 27
health or a board or commission. The office shall also have access to 28
information submitted to the department of health as part of the 29
medical or health facility licensing process. Access to and use of 30
all data shall be in accordance with state and federal 31
confidentiality laws and ethical guidelines, and the office shall 32
maintain the same degree of confidentiality as the department of 33
health. For professional licensing information provided to the 34
office, the department of health shall replace any social security 35
number with an alternative identifier capable of linking all 36
licensing records of an individual; and 37
p. 3 SB 5568
(d) Conduct research and analysis or arrange for research and 1
analysis projects to be conducted by public or private organizations 2
to further the purposes of the strategy. 3
(3) Access to and use of all health care authority and department 4
of health data shall be in accordance with state and federal 5
confidentiality laws and ethical guidelines, and the office shall 6
maintain the same degree of confidentiality as the health care 7
authority and the department of health.8
Sec. 4. RCW 43.370.030 and 2010 1st sp.s. c 7 s 114 are each 9
amended to read as follows: 10
(1) The office ((shall develop )), in coordination with relevant 11
public and private stakeholders, shall update the state health plan 12
by developing a statewide health resources strategy. The strategy 13
shall establish statewide health planning policies and goals related 14
to the availability of health care facilities and services, quality 15
of care, and cost of care. The strategy shall identify needs 16
according to geographic regions suitable for comprehensive health 17
planning as designated by the office. 18
(2) The development of the strategy shall consider the following 19
general goals and principles: 20
(a) That excess capacity of health services and facilities place 21
considerable economic burden on the public who pay for the 22
construction and operation of these facilities as patients, health 23
insurance purchasers, carriers, and taxpayers; ((and))24
(b) That the development and ongoing maintenance of current and 25
accurate health care information and statistics related to cost and 26
quality of health care, as well as projections of need for health 27
facilities and services, are essential to effective strategic health 28
planning; and29
(c) That a statewide health resources strategy should take into 30
consideration the principles of health equity. 31
(3) The strategy, with public input by health service areas, 32
shall include: 33
(a) A health system assessment and objectives component that:34
(i) Describes state and regional population demographics, health 35
status indicators, and trends in health status and health care needs; 36
and 37
p. 4 SB 5568
(ii) Identifies key policy objectives for the state health system 1
related to access to care, health outcomes, quality, and cost-2
effectiveness; 3
(b) A health care facilities and services plan that shall assess 4
the demand for health care facilities and services to inform state 5
health planning efforts and direct certificate of need 6
determinations, for those facilities and services subject to 7
certificate of need as provided in chapter 70.38 RCW. The plan shall 8
include: 9
(i) An inventory of each geographic region's existing health care 10
facilities and services; 11
(ii) Projections of need for each category of health care 12
facility and service, including those subject to certificate of need;13
(iii) Policies to guide the addition of new or expanded health 14
care facilities and services to promote the use of quality, evidence-15
based, cost-effective health care delivery options, including any 16
recommendations for criteria, standards, and methods relevant to the 17
certificate of need review process; and 18
(iv) An assessment of the availability of health care providers, 19
public health resources, transportation infrastructure, and other 20
considerations necessary to support the needed health care facilities 21
and services in each region; 22
(c) A health care data resource plan that identifies data 23
elements necessary to properly conduct planning activities and to 24
review certificate of need applications, including data related to 25
inpatient and outpatient utilization and outcomes information, and 26
financial and utilization information related to charity care, 27
quality, and cost. The plan shall inventory existing data resources, 28
both public and private, that store and disclose information relevant 29
to the health planning process, including information necessary to 30
conduct certificate of need activities pursuant to chapter 70.38 RCW. 31
The plan shall identify any deficiencies in the inventory of existing 32
data resources and the data necessary to conduct comprehensive health 33
planning activities. The plan may recommend that the office be 34
authorized to access existing data sources and conduct appropriate 35
analyses of such data or that other agencies expand their data 36
collection activities as statutory authority permits. The plan may 37
identify any computing infrastructure deficiencies that impede the 38
proper storage, transmission, and analysis of health planning data. 39
The plan shall provide recommendations for increasing the 40
p. 5 SB 5568
availability of data related to health planning to provide greater 1
community involvement in the health planning process and consistency 2
in data used for certificate of need applications and determinations;3
(d) An assessment of emerging trends in health care delivery and 4
technology as they relate to access to health care facilities and 5
services, quality of care, and costs of care. The assessment shall 6
recommend any changes to the scope of health care facilities and 7
services covered by the certificate of need program that may be 8
warranted by these emerging trends. In addition, the assessment may 9
recommend any changes to criteria used by the department to review 10
certificate of need applications, as necessary; 11
(e) A rural health resource plan to assess the availability of 12
health resources in rural areas of the state, assess the unmet needs 13
of these communities, and evaluate how federal and state 14
reimbursement policies can be modified, if necessary, to more 15
efficiently and effectively meet the health care needs of rural 16
communities. The plan shall consider the unique health care needs of 17
rural communities, the adequacy of the rural health workforce, and 18
transportation needs for accessing appropriate care.19
(4) The office shall submit ((the initial strategy )) a 20
preliminary report outlining its work in developing a state health 21
resources strategy by December 31, 2025. The department shall submit 22
the completed health resources strategy report to the governor and 23
the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives 24
by ((January 1, 2010. Every )) December 31, 2027. The report must 25
include projections and policy recommendations through 2032. 26
Beginning January 1, 2033, the department shall update the strategy 27
every two years ((the office shall submit an updated strategy. The 28
health care facilities and services plan as it pertains to a distinct 29
geographic planning region may be updated by individual categories on 30
a rotating, biannual schedule)). 31
(5) The ((office)) department shall hold at least one public 32
hearing and allow opportunity to submit written comments prior to the 33
issuance of the ((initial)) state health resources strategy ((or an)) 34
and any updated strategy reports. ((A public hearing shall be held 35
prior to issuing a draft of an updated health care facilities and 36
services plan, and another public hearing shall be held before final 37
adoption of an updated health care facilities and services plan. Any 38
hearing related to updating a health care facilities and services 39
p. 6 SB 5568
plan for a specific planning region shall be held in that region with 1
sufficient notice to the public and an opportunity to comment.))2
--- END ---
p. 7 SB 5568