" "

If you are displaced or affected by wildfire, all Washington Apple Health and PEBB/SEBB medical plans are allowing prescription refills before the refill date.
Due to COVID-19, HCA’s lobby is closed. Learn more about your customer service options.

Emerging Therapies Workgroup

Background

The Health Care Authority (HCA) has created the Emerging Therapies Workgroup in response to interest in new treatment methods from the medical community and patients alike. The workgroup’s primary function is to look at prospective and emerging therapies – specifically their impacts on patients in Washington State.

This is an exciting opportunity to take a look at new approaches to continuing health issues, and improving patient health through more effective means while keeping overall cost down.

Workgroup charter

The initial workgroup charter highlights an ambitious timeline to kickoff this conversation between medical professionals, managed care organizations, and patients and patient advocacy organizations. Two of the four meetings scheduled through early 2020 are dedicated to patient experience, and quality oversight and improvements.

Meeting schedule

The workgroup will hold four meetings over 12 months between June 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020. These meetings are not subject to the open public meetings act, but we are adding two opening public meetings to the schedule and making one workgroup meeting open to the public. We will post all meeting materials here.

Date

Topic

Meeting materials

June 18, 2019

First meeting: level setting - invitation only

  • Overview of new therapies coming to market
  • Private sector perspective on managing emerging therapies
  • HCA/Medicaid perspective on managing emerging therapies
  • Current financing

Agenda (06/18/2019)

Presentation (06/18/2019)

Transcript (06/18/2019)

October 18, 2019

Second meeting: case examples - invitation only

  • Patient decision aids
  • Patient experience
  • Patient advocates present

Agenda and presentations (10/18/2019)

Transcript (10/18/2019)
December 18, 2019

Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee - open public meeting

  • Overview of Emerging Therapies Workgroup effort to date
  • Stakeholder questions and feedback

Summary 

Transcript (12/18/2019)
February 19, 2020

Third meeting: funding options - open public meeting

  • Long-term funding for emerging therapies
  • Potential funding options between manufacturers and the state
  • Different payment options between the state and managed care organizations

  • We have time on the agenda dedicated to hearing from drug manufacturers. We are looking for solutions to assist the Health Care Authority in purchasing emerging therapies. If you choose to speak, please come prepared to answer the following questions: What would you do if you were in our shoes? How would you address the problem?

    For those who want to speak, there will be a sign in sheet on a table outside of the conference room before the meeting starts. Speakers will be called to the podium in the order that they signed up.  You will have 3 minutes to speak, with conversation to follow.  If you did not sign in and wish to speak, you will still have the opportunity to do so.

Agenda and presentations (2/19/2020)

Transcript (2/19/2020)

June 22, 2020

Fourth meeting: quality oversight - invitation only

  • Potential improvements and harms to health outcomes and quality of life for patients
  • Quality oversight and outcome tracking of providers and facilities administering emerging therapies
  • Metrics that could be used to measure the fiscal and health impacts of emerging therapies
  • Potential long-term savings and expenditures to the state

Agenda (6/22/2020)

Intro slides

Evidence presentation

Tracking outcomes presentation

Webinar video

Transcript (6/22/2020)

November 3, 2020

9-10 a.m.

Fifth meeting - open public meeting by Webinar only

  • Summary of Workgroup topics
  • Questions and feedback from stakeholders on the workgroup 
 Register

Contact

Email: EmergingTherapies@hca.wa.gov