Now it’s the law: Specialty hospitals won’t enjoy unfair advantage

It’s always fulfilling to see your bill of yours signed into law by the governor, but it felt extra fulfilling this week when Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5398. As a former chairman of the board of Empire Health Services and Inland Northwest Health Services, I have long known how important it is that we maintain a level playing field between community hospitals and specialty hospitals. This bill does that by requiring specialty hospitals to serve a broad range of patients and not simply cherry pick the most profitable patients and leave community hospitals with only Medicaid, Medicare and uninsured patients. My measure guards against that by requiring specialty hospitals to:

• satisfy minimum participation rates for providing services to Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries;
• provide a percentage of the charity care provided by a general hospital in the same health service area;
• provide emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or otherwise accommodate patients who need emergency services through a transfer agreement with a general hospital; and
• accept the transfer of a patient from a general hospital who requires a category of care provided by the specialty hospital.

This bill is about more than just fairness. It’s about our community hospitals’ ability to survive and continue serving the full community, as they always have.

Veterans cemetery for eastern Washington gets final OK

Also this week, Gov. Gregoire signed House Bill 1292, the companion bill to my measure to create a state veterans cemetery in the Spokane area. This will ensure that veterans throughout eastern Washington will have access to a regional cemetery comparable to the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent. With 140,000 veterans and their families living in eastern Washington, including 53,000 in Spokane County alone, this is no minor matter. I am very proud to be able to say that our veterans on this side of the Cascades, who sacrificed so much for their countrymen and their country, will soon have access to a final resting place within a reasonable distance from their homes and families.

Uniform standards will be established for athletic trainers

One bill I haven’t talked about much, as least in public, is Senate Bill 5503. I sponsored this bill to establish athletic trainers as a new health profession to be regulated by the Department of Health (DOH), and the governor signed it into law on Wednesday. This will set standards for athletic trainers that include a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution approved by DOH, passing examinations and paying license fees, and it authorizes DOH to discipline licensed trainers for unprofessional or otherwise improper conduct . It also authorizes DOH to determine which states have requirements comparable to ours, to ensure that any licenses issued here to trainers from out of state have met our state’s standards.

Another successful run, but this time not for office

Last month Regence BlueShield challenged me and my colleagues to wear pedometers and record the number of steps we took to promote healthy lifestyles by all Washingtonians. Six weeks later, $1,500 is headed to a Spokane area school district health program yet to be chosen. That’s the prize I received for finishing third in the competition. I’d hoped to finish higher, but two wiley lawmakers from the House of Representatives outwalked me. I blame Barb Bumann, my legislative assistant, for gumming things up. With better support from her, I’m sure I would have won it all. But, no, Barb had to let me down— along with a lot of young constituents who would have received an even bigger sum if I’d finished higher. So shame on Barb. Let’s hope she does a better job next year.

For the record, I totaled 611,000 steps — roughly equivalent to the distance from Olympia to Walla Walla — and, in all seriousness, I have Barb to thank for joining me in the many morning runs that helped me ring up so many miles. Our days run long as it is, never mind the early rises it took to run before the start of the workday, but Barb never complained — not within earshot, anyway — and kept me from falling off the pace.
Oh, one last thing: Although I love to run and endorse it to others, there are plenty of other ways to stay fit. Walking, for instance, is an easy and healthy option for people of all levels of fitness. Regular walks in the early evening or any time of day that’s convenient will improve your fitness, make you more alert and even help you lose weight. Try it and see!

Call or write anytime

I hope you find this update helpful. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office with questions or concerns, whether they involve bills before the Legislature or topics you feel are being overlooked. If you have a concern, I want to hear it. You can reach me by e-mail at marr.chris@leg.wa.gov or by phone at 360-786-7610.

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