How we work

Updates to the Health Technology Assessment Program

Senate Bill 5915 passed in the 2026 legislative session modifying how technologies are reviewed for state coverage. Key updates include:

  • Medicare and guideline prioritization: The program must prioritize technologies with established Medicare access or national expert treatment guidelines.
  • Rare disease evidence: For rare or life-threatening diseases, the committee must review all peer-reviewed studies and consider expert information stating that standard trials are impractical or impossible.
  • Website posting: The Health Care Authority must publish receipts for new and rereview petition submissions on its website within 30 days.
    • Decision deadlines: The committee must issue its decision within 180 days. Denials require a written, substantive explanation within that same timeframe.
  • Rereview scope: When rereviewing a technology, the committee must combine the new data with the evidence from the previous review.

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Public participation
  • Phase 1: Technology selection
    Anyone can suggest a technology for the program to investigate. Nominations are sent to the program. The program also considers previous technologies for rereview. Once or twice a year, the program prioritizes all the nominated technologies and selects about ten to undergo review.
  • Phase 2: Key questions
    For selected technologies, the next step is to identify what research questions to ask. The research questions guide the development of the evidence report. Draft and final key questions are published online.
  • Phase 3: Evidence report
    A contracted research organization then reviews submitted information, and searches for, summarizes, and evaluates trials, articles, and other evidence about the topic. A draft and final technology assessment report are produced.
  • Phase 4: Clinical committee meeting and coverage decision
    The evidence report is then used by an independent group of eleven clinicians who practice medicine locally. This committee holds public meetings, usually quarterly, to decide whether and under what circumstances state agencies should pay for the health technology based on whether the evidence shows it is safe, effective, and has value.
  • Phase 5: Decision complete
    The process is complete by publishing a draft and then final coverage decision online. State agencies implement the coverage decision. In order to keep pace with changes in health technologies, the program also considers completed technologies for a rereview at least every 18 months.