Legislative relations

The legislative team

HCA's legislative team engages on state and federal policy issues to help ensure Washington State residents — from public employees to Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) clients — have access to high-quality health care at the best possible cost.

Our work includes:

• Monitoring state and federal legislation — and guiding lawmakers, when needed, about how to best serve our constituents.
• Proposing state legislation that benefits how we serve our constituents.
• Keeping lawmakers and stakeholders informed on the latest issues affecting the health care industry and our efforts to transform health care.

Legislative priorities

HCA is the largest purchaser of health care in the state. There are three pillars of our work: Apple Health (Medicaid); health benefits for public and school employees; and behavioral health and recovery. Under these pillars, HCA purchases and coordinates health care services including behavioral health treatment for more than 2.7 million Washington residents and provides behavioral health prevention, crisis, and recovery supports to all Washington residents.

Legislative presentations

Presentations are listed in reverse chronological order.

2025

Date	Topic	Recording
October 16	H.R. 1 - Impacts to Medicaid	Watch a recording (October 16)
July 22	Federal Impacts to Medicaid	Watch a recording (July 22)
July 22	Apple Health Birth Doula Benefit	Watch a recording (July 22)
March 21	Universal Health Care Commission latest recommendations	Watch a recording (March 21)
February 4	Overview of obesity treatment medication report	Watch a recording (February 4)
January 30	988 Technical Platform project with the Department of Health (DOH)	Watch a recording (January 30)
January 24	Background on quality measures being used across programs, inclusive of PEBB/SEBB/Medicaid managed care	Watch a recording (January 24)
January 23	Update on PDAB, HCCTB, and UHCC	Watch a recording (January 23)
January 21	Update on 988 with the Department of Health (DOH)	Watch a recording (January 21)
January 17	Health Care Cost Transparency Board presentation on the primary care expenditure ratio	Watch a recording (January 17)
January 16	Access to coverage with the Office of Insurance Commissioner (OIC) and Health Benefit Exchange (HBE)	Watch a recording (January 16)
January 14	Children and Youth Behavioral Health Workgroup (CYBHWG) and Washington Thriving	Watch a recording (January 14)
January 14	General HCA overview	Watch a recording (January 14)

2024

• Access to Baby and Child Dentistry: expansion population update (December 12)
• History of health reform in Washington since passage of the Affordable Care Act (December 11)
• Update on behavioral health and physical health integration (December 11)
• Value-Based Payment in Washington (December 11)
• Barriers to transitioning persons to the long-term care system (December 11)
• Trueblood update (December 10)
• Implementation update: transition of care from state hospitals to the community (December 9)
• Health Care Cost Transparency Board/affordability-related initiatives and recommendations (December 9)
• Apple Health and Homes (December 6)
• Overview of Washington's Section 1115 Medicaid waiver (December 6)
• Update on the development of the palliative care program (December 6)
• Trueblood update (December 5)
• Difficult to discharge: Update on transitioning patients from acute care hospitals to community and other settings (December 4)
• Adoption of statewide electronic medical record system (December 4)
• Overview of the statewide EHR plan (October 15). No slides developed for this presentation.
• Overview of Washington's Section 1115 Medicaid waiver (November 30)
• Universal Health Care Commission (November 30)
• State efforts to increase primary care access (September 2023)
• Universal Health Care Commission (September 23)
• Apple Health doula benefit implementation (July 18)
• Apple Health Expansion (July 18)
• 2024 legislative session recap (March 2024)
• HCA overview (January 9)

2023

• PHE Unwind (July 19)
• Apple Health expansion program (July 18)
• Pharmacy Benefit Managers (April 18)
• HCA post-pandemic facilities use (March 10)
• Apple Health (January 30)
• Long-Term Civil Commitment Community Bed Capacity (January 26)
• Children and Youth Behavioral Health Work Group Recommendations (January 17)
• HCA Overview - House Health Care and Wellness Committee (January 10)
• HCA Overview - Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee (January 10)

Legislative communications resources

Communications toolkits

• Apple Health is Medicaid
• Apple Health Expansion Communications Toolkit
• Mental health toolkit

Legislative fact sheets

Apple Health (Medicaid)

• What you need to know about Apple Health
• Value-based purchasing and Managed Care Organization withhold incentive
• Medicaid (Apple Health) in Washington: Medicaid spending data and potential impacts of federal budget reduction proposals
  • Slide deck
  • Fact sheet

Behavioral health and recovery

Block grants

• Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG)
• Substance Use, Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services (SUPTRS) block grant

Prenatal - 25 services

• Children's behavioral health statewide family network
• Children's Long Term Inpatient Program (CLIP)
• Family Initiated Treatment (FIT)
• Family Youth System Partner Round Table (FYSPRT)
• Residential Crisis Stabilization Program
• Substance use disorder family navigator projects
• Wraparound with Intensive Services (WISe)

Prevention services

• Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative (CPWI)
• School-based prevention and intervention services
• Washington Healthy Youth Survey

Recovery services

• Apple Health and homes
• Foundational Community Supports (FCS)
• FCS Supportive Housing
• FCS Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
• Housing and Recovery through Peer Services (HARPS)
• Oxford Houses
• Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)
• Peer support certification and workforce development
• Recovery Residences
• Trueblood diversion

Substance use disorder treatment

• Arrest and Jail Alternatives program
• Engrossed Senate Bill 5476 (State v. Blake behavioral health expansion)
• Health Engagement Hubs
• Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) grant program
• Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in jails
• Naloxone distribution
• Recovery Navigator Program
• State Opioid and Overdose Response Plan (SOORP)
• State v. Blake (2E2SSB) 5536
• Substance use disorder outpatient treatment and residential services
• Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee (SURSAC)

Treatment services

• Assisted outpatient treatment
• Certified community behavioral health clinic
• Fee-for-service
• Involuntary Treatment Act
• Long-term civil commitment bed capacity
• Mobile rapid response crisis teams
• Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health Facility
• Problem gambling treatment
• Programs for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Can't find what you're looking for?

The Behavioral health and recovery landing page has more fact sheets.

Employee and retiree benefits

• About the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) and School Employees Benefits Board (SEBB) programs

For information related to PEBB/SEBB access and affordability, please view our:

• Fact sheet about PEBB/SEBB access and affordability
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

IT projects

2024 HCA-involved IT projects

HCA and our agency partners in the HHS Coalition envision a modern, connected, and efficient health care system. To further these efforts, participating entities are working to implement years-long projects to connect Washingtonians to a large suite of health and human services.

This document summarizes HCA’s efforts to integrate systems, coordinate crisis response, and ensure equitable access to programs and services. It provides an overview of the following projects:

• Integrated eligibility and enrollment (IE&E)
• 988 crisis line
• Enterprise electronic health records (EHR)
• Community information exchange (CIE)