Tag Archives: Health Care

Sen. Muzzall’s bills to improve health care access, quality pass state Senate

Two bills sponsored by Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, to improve health care access and quality in Washington have passed the state Senate with unanimous bipartisan support. Senate Bill 5124 and Senate Bill 5672 aim to address critical gaps in the state’s health care system, ensuring residents receive timely, high-quality care while supporting the professionals who provide it.

Senate Bill 5124 seeks to improve access to post-acute care services for Medicaid enrollees by requiring the Health Care Authority to establish and enforce network adequacy standards for skilled nursing facilities and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. These standards aim to ensure that Medicaid managed care organizations provide timely and sufficient access to post-acute care services for patients recovering from acute illness, injury, or surgery.

“Patients who need post-acute care should not face unnecessary delays or barriers,” Muzzall said. “This bill ensures that Medicaid enrollees can access rehabilitation and skilled nursing care without excessive wait times, helping them recover faster and more effectively.”

Senate Bill 5672 aims to address workforce challenges in Washington’s long-term care sector by modifying certification requirements for home care aides. The bill grants additional time for long-term care workers to complete their certification while the State Auditor’s Office conducts a performance audit of training requirements and competency assessments. By preventing unnecessary turnover caused by certification delays, SB 5672 seeks to improve workforce stability and ensure continued care for Washington’s aging and disabled populations.

“If we don’t take care of our health care workforce, we won’t be able to take care of our patients,” Muzzall explained. “This proposal cuts red tape and ensures Washington remains an attractive place for medical professionals to work and serve.”

Both bills reflect Muzzall’s commitment to strengthening Washington’s health care system by addressing affordability and quality. By ensuring timely access to post-acute care and reducing workforce barriers, these measures work in tandem to create a more sustainable and effective health care system for all residents.

With Senate approval, SB 5124 and SB 5672 now move to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

Muzzall maternity-support bills approved by Senate

House already taking action on lowering costs for maternal care

OLYMPIA… The state Senate has now approved the final piece of legislation sponsored by Sen. Ron Muzzall focused on improving maternal supports. Part of a package, Senate Bill 5581 was approved in late February and is awaiting a public hearing in the House of Representatives. Today, the body unanimously approved Senate Bill 5580, which would direct the state Health Care Authority to support extended post-delivery hospital care for women struggling with substance-use disorders.

Senate Bill 5581 would require the state insurance commissioner to work with health care providers toward strategies to lower if not eliminate deductibles for maternal-support services and postpartum care.

“Motherhood is a beautiful thing but sometimes the support they need isn’t there and the costs associated with childbirth make a challenging life event even more so,” Muzzall said. “For low-income women and women struggling with addiction who choose life, I want the state to be there with services, support and compassion.”

Under Muzzall’s proposal, the services for pregnant and postpartum women are expanded to those up to 210% of the federal poverty level. It also directs the state Health Care Authority to create a post-delivery program transitional program for women with substance use disorder at the time of delivery allowing for extended post-delivery hospital care.

Muzzall argues, “Giving birth is life changing, and if there is a chance these mothers can get clean, we should utilize the hospital care to treat them and help break that addiction for their new baby. We also need HCA to look at outcomes for these newborns and their moms.”

By January 2025, the HCA is directed update its Maternity Support Services program by collecting data, updating screening tools, and evaluations aimed at healthier birth outcomes.

Muzzall fentanyl test strip bill gets unanimous vote

Opioid overdose deaths have been skyrocketing in Washington State. King County saw over 1,000 overdose deaths last year and 70% of the victims had fentanyl in their system. While legislators recently approved a measure to deal with drug possession and treatment, legislation sponsored by Sen. Ron Muzzall to help reduce immediate harm received unanimous approval in the state Senate today.

Senate Bill 5022 would remove fentanyl testing strips from the list of illegal drug paraphernalia. Many jurisdictions around the state are already distributing these test strips but are doing so illegally.

“It no secret that communities around our state are being deeply affected by the opioid epidemic. While we have some work to do to get at the root causes, we can at least deal with the effects by providing life-saving interventions,” said Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor. “Like the state did with Narcan in 2020, we need to change this law so that this deadly fentanyl scourge will hopefully take fewer lives.”

In addition to delisting test strips, Muzzall’s bipartisan legislation would allow public health and community organizations to either sell or provide the test strips.

“People struggling with addiction know that they’re doing is harmful, but they likely are not intending to ingest a substance as deadly as fentanyl,” Muzzall lamented. “I don’t want people to be doing drugs in the first place, but I certainly don’t want them do die unwittingly. Removing test strips from the classification and engaging community partners will hopefully put a dent in the number of overdose deaths we are seeing.”

The House of Representatives will now take up Muzzall’s bill in the public hearing process. They must move it out of committee and vote to approve the proposal by April 12.

A Time for Voting

Greetings Friends,

We’re now past the halfway mark of the 2023 legislative session and things have been busy. There was a series of deadlines over last several weeks that have significantly cut down the number of legislative proposals that could eventually make it to the governor’s desk. Over the past few days, we’ve been working late into the evenings debating and voting on bills on the Senate floor.

While some like to focus on varying political divisions, the reality is that the work in the state Legislature, especially in the Senate, features civil discussions about policies that seek to make life better or Washingtonians. Don’t get me wrong, there are some proposals that have or will come before me that are challenging. However, the lion’s share of bills we are voting on are overwhelmingly bipartisan.

I’m pleased that several bills that I have sponsored have been approved by the state Senate this session. I have introduced proposals on issues ranging from fentanyl testing equipment to programs for Washington agricultural products, telemedicine and maternal health.

Focus on health care

This past week, the Senate approved SB 5581, which was part of a package of maternal care proposals I announced earlier in the session. This bill would require insurance companies to work with health-care providers to develop strategies to reduce deductibles for maternal support services and postpartum care. The other legislation, Senate Bill 5580, has been pulled from the Senate Rules Committee and will soon be voted on the Senate floor. This helps low-income mothers struggling with addiction receive better, longer care aimed at improving outcomes for them and their new babies. You can read more about these approaches to supporting mothers by clicking here.

It no secret that communities around our state are being deeply affected by the opioid epidemic. While the root causes are being debated and worked on, we can at least deal with the effects by providing life-saving interventions. I sponsored Senate Bill 5022, which would make fentanyl testing equipment legal. Many jurisdictions around the state are already distributing these test strips but doing so illegally. We heard in committee that there were over 1,000 overdose deaths in King County last year and 70% of the victims had fentanyl in their system. Like the state did with Narcan in 2020, we need to change this law.

Farmers Market Supporting agriculture

Our district is blessed with a bountiful agricultural industry, with many smaller farms and producers that offer unique products. Washington holds further distinction nationally by lacking ways to help these ag producers brand and promote their products. That is why I sponsored Senate Bill 5341, which cleared the state Senate recently. It would help consumers support local agriculture and make local producers more competitive across the country.

Regulation is sometimes necessary. Sometimes its effects are downright cruel. Our district has seen the unfortunate closure of an important industry as a result of regulatory actions by the state. While some could disagree about the benefits or harms of aquaculture, the impacts on the families who work in that industry are real. They’re our neighbors and deserve our help. I expect Senate Bill 5621 to be voted on the Senate soon, before next Wednesday’s deadline. It would expand unemployment benefits to these dislocated workers that resulted from the denial of a finfish net pen lease.

Listening to You – Town Hall Follow-up

Greetings from Olympia,

The 2020 legislative session is scheduled to conclude March 12. Things are really picking up. We are now looking at legislation that the House has approved. Those bills will have to go through the committee process here in the Senate and then taken up on the floor. The process is really designed so that not a lot of legislation makes it to the governor’s desk, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your particular interest.

We’ve covered a lot of subjects from open government issues, to elections, to health care and gun rights. During all this, the budget is being worked on. We had some great news last week that should hopefully tamp down efforts to raise additional taxes. The revenue forecast projects the state will take in $1.4 billion more than we expected since adopting the budget last year!

I’m baffled at the way budgets are done in Olympia. There was simply no reason for the majority to ram through a billion-dollar tax bill on small business, including doctors, mental health providers and nursing homes.

Health care challenges

We have a big challenge in our state and country concerning rising health care costs and a lot of things we are doing in Olympia aren’t helping. I did vote for legislation that caps the out of pocket costs of insulin at $100 for a 30 day supply. We heard very compelling testimony in the Health Care Committee about the impacts that skyrocketing costs for this lifesaving drug are having and we needed to act. I did not support another somewhat related bill that would have created another government agency to “fix” our state’s problems. We need an honest accounting of what’s driving costs as opposed to rushing bills to put out fires.

You can watch an interview I did recently with the chair of the health care committee by clicking here. It’s a complex problem that we have a lot of bipartisan agreement on, the challenge is how we get there and are we actually just making the problem worse.

It’s all about balance

I was honest with you when I stepped up to represent you in the Senate that my job was to listen. I’m not an expert on every policy that comes before me, but I make every effort to learn, understand and vote my constituents and my conscience. The state absolutely needs to help those that can’t help themselves, but we also need to be pragmatic in our approaches. That’s something innate to me as farmer.

You may have heard about efforts to restore voting rights for felons. The debate in the Senate got fairly contentious. I did not support that legislation because I did not think it was fair. Let me be clear, if you’ve served your debt to society, I’m in favor of restoring of voting rights. But the bill we were considering allowed folks who had not completed all the terms of their sentences to have those restored – people out on parole or now called community custody or who haven’t made restitution. I’m tired of the slippery slope and we need to send a message about fairness for victims. Pay the full debt to society and rejoin the community – no sooner.

Another example of balancing the rights and privileges that government gets involved with concerns housing and property rights. It’s no secret that finding affordable housing is a challenge. Rents are growing often faster than incomes and sometimes people are facing evictions. The state does provide resources for people in that situation, but we took up legislation that tried to fix legal issues or imbalances that might exist that could lead to evictions and increased homelessness.

The challenge here is the need for people to be housed and the rights of property owners who provide rental housing. For big property companies, some of these rules and regulations aren’t that big a deal. I’m concerned about the impacts these laws have on small operations, people that have a few units they’re renting. People don’t often consider that a big reason why housing has become so unaffordable are the layers of costly rules government places on housing providers. This doesn’t even take into consideration the sheer lack of supply that drives up costs for everyone.

Town hall follow up

Thanks to everyone who took part in our two 10th District town halls this past weekend. The meetings were very well attended, and my House seatmates and I covered a lot of ground on issues ranging from government transparency, education, and homelessness, to Second Amendment rights and more. Listening is one of the most important things I can do when working to represent our district, so these meetings were particularly valuable.

As we near the end of the 2020 legislative session, don’t hesitate to reach out with your thoughts on legislation. I take your comments to heart and will do my best to represent your views.

It is an honor to serve you. Please reach out to my office with any questions or concerns you may have about your state government.

Sincerely,

Ron Muzzall,

Your 10th District State Senator