Legislative priorities

HB 1162 / SB 5162

In 2019, the Legislature passed a law on workplace violence (WPV) in hospitals requiring them to develop safety plans, safety trainings for employees, and an annual review of WPV related incidents. This work is carried out by WPV or safety committees. Our proposal would take the work being done by these WPV/safety committees to the next natural step by requiring a more regular and detailed review of WPV incident-related data by the committee, as well as required reporting of this data within the committee and annual updates to the safety plan based on this regular review of data. Our focus is on prevention, and our goal is to move the needle on WPV, as it has been trending upwards steadily over the last several years. This is one step of additional work that needs to be done around the issue of workplace violence.

Mergers and acquisitions between healthcare entities are prolific in Washington state. And now we are seeing private equity and hedge funds move into the healthcare space. Data shows that these transactions can negatively impact cost, quality, and access to necessary healthcare services, including protected healthcare services and healthcare affordability. Yet in Washington, these health entity consolidations receive minimal oversight, allowing large healthcare systems to dominate the market and dictate patients’ access to care and affordability. Nurses have seen time and again that this results in a reduction in staffing, support, and resources, or the complete elimination of lines of services. The goal is to assure accessibility and affordability of services and to ensure mergers, acquisitions, and contracted affiliations do not result in reduced access to quality, affordable care and services.

 SB 5041

More than 30% of Americans have less than $400 in savings. Rather than negotiating a fair contract, some employers use this economic instability to force a strike. Washington should join New York, New Jersey and Maine in allowing workers to access unemployment insurance after more than two weeks on strike. This bill will help level the playing field, discourage economic hardship as a bargaining strategy, and promote good-faith contract negotiations.

HB 1352 / SB 5270

School nurses provide direct care, care coordination, and case management to Washington state students. Their work and presence are essential for students to benefit from their education programs, especially students impacted by academic inequities and complex health conditions. While nurses are typically trained to provide care to patients in hospitals and clinic settings, school nurses practice in non-health settings with work crossing both the education and health sectors. This can lead to professional isolation, so feeling supported is key to retention. The Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) is a grant program established to support novice educators and other professionals that work in Washington State’s school districts. This program helps support and retain professionals in our public education system by providing them with a mentor and support system. This legislation would direct districts participating in the BEST program and with a novice school nurse (a nurse with three years or less experience as a school nurse) to prioritize their novice school nurse for participation in the mentorship program. The mentorship opportunity will be available to all novice school nurses regardless of ESA certification or size or class of district. The goal is to improve retention of school nurses and improve health services to students.

HB 1430

Currently, commercial health plans withhold up to 15% of the reimbursement for services provided by advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) and physician assistants (PAs). These insurance plans keep this as profit instead of using it to reduce premiums paid by patients and employers. This reduced reimbursement has led to clinic closures and reduces patient access to much needed care. This bill would require commercial insurance plans to reimburse ARNP and PA care at the same rate as physicians for the same services provided. Currently WA State Medicaid and WA Labor and Industries (L&I) reimburse ARNPs and PAs at 100% of the physician rate for the same services provided.

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