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- Washington State Pathologists Urge Strengthening of Network Adequacy Law
On January 24, the Washington State Society of Pathologists (WSSP), with the support of the CAP, testified before the state House Health Care & Wellness Committee and urged passage of HB 1889 legislation that strengthens the state’s network adequacy requirements for health plans. In addition to the WSSP and the CAP, the bill is backed by the Washington State Medical Association and other physician specialties. The CAP advocates for states to require health plans to have adequate networks of hospital-based physicians, including pathologists.
Current state law, administered by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), directs the agency to consider whether health plans have contracted with pathologists and other hospital-based physician specialists in determining whether the health plan meets minimum state regulatory standards. Those standards were enacted in 2019, largely as a result of the WSSP and the CAP’s advocacy over several prior years.
In submitted January 24 testimony before the Committee, the WSSP said that, “Washington is considered to have strong network adequacy laws and we’re grateful for the OIC's work in enforcing them. However, we believe that HB 1889 will necessarily give the OIC more tools to ensure network adequacy, and to keep pace with the increasingly aggressive tactics we’ve seen insurance carriers employ in contract negotiations (where we can get them to negotiate at all).” The legislation was opposed in Committee by the Association of Washington Health Care Plans. The CAP will continue to monitor during the legislative session.