Legislative relations

Find current and past legislative reports and presentations for the Health Care Authority (HCA).

On this page

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.

For a summary of our agency's highest legislative priorities, please view our 2025 budget and legislative proposals.

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)
HCA Legislative Symposium

HCA hosts an annual Legislative Symposium, inviting members of the Legislature and staff to learn more about agency projects and priorities. The goal of the symposium is to provide a deeper dive into key topics and answer questions. 

2024 Legislative Symposium

This year's event is cancelled. We will hold the next symposium in 2025.

2023 symposium resources

Committee Assembly Days

What are committee days?

Every year Washington State Legislators convene prior to legislative session, usually sometime in late November/early December, for Committee Assembly Days for both the House and Senate. They hold work sessions, assign committee members, and plan for the upcoming legislative session.

Below are the presentations HCA was invited to share during the 2023 Committee Assembly Days.

Date Topic Committee TVW link HCA on TVW PowerPoint
December 6 Apple Health and homes Joint Select Committee on Health Care Oversight (12/6/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/6/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/6/2023) View the HCA slide deck (12/6/2023)
December 6 Overview of Washington's Section 1115 Medicaid waiver Joint Select Committee on Health Care Oversight(12/6/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/6/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/6/2023) View the HCA slide deck (12/6/2023)
December 6 Update on the development of the palliative care program Joint Legislative Executive Committee on Planning for Aging and Disability Issues (12/6/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/6/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/6/2023) View the HCA slide deck (12/6/2023)
December 5 Trueblood update House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee (12/5/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/5/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/5/2023) View the HCA and DSHS slide deck (12/5/2023)
December 4 Difficult to discharge: Update on transitioning patients from acute care hospitals to community and other settings House Appropriations Committee (12/4/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/4/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/4/2023) View the HCA slide deck (12/4/2023)
December 4 Adoption of statewide electronic medical record system House Health Care & Wellness Committee (12/4/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/4/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/4/2023) View the HCA slide deck (12/4/2023)
December 1 Overview of the statewide EHR plan Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee (12/1/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (12/1/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (12/1/2023) n/a
November 30 Overview of Washington's Section 1115 Medicaid waiver (reentry) Senate Human Services Committee (11/30/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (11/30/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (11/30/2023) View the HCA slide deck (11/30/2023)
November 30 Universal Health Care Commission Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee (11/30/2023) Watch the entire recorded meeting (11/30/2023) Skip to the recorded HCA presentation (11/30/2023) View the HCA slide deck (11/30/2023)
Legislative presentations

Below are the presentations from this year listed in chronological order.

2024

2023

Legislative communications resources

Communications toolkits

Legislative fact sheets

Behavioral health and recovery

Block grants

Prenatal - 25 services

Prevention services

Recovery services

Substance use disorder treatment

Treatment services

Workforce

Apple Health (Medicaid)

Contact

Email: Shawn O'Neill
Legislative relations manager

Email: Evan Klein
Special Assistant, Legislative & Policy Affairs

Related links