Washington’s 2026 Legislative Session started January 12, and it presents lawmakers with options to lower health care costs for Washingtonians. There is clear bipartisan support for common-sense solutions that help Washingtonians go to the doctor without ending up in debt. The patient and consumer groups, business leaders, and labor organizations of Fair Health Prices Washington have identified actions that legislators can take to tackle high prices, slow corporate influence, improve transparency, and stop harsh medical debt practices. Read our fact sheet to learn about priority bills that can lower health care costs.

A new state law will help protect Washington residents from the harsh negative impacts of medical debt. Senator Marcus Riccelli sponsored SB 5480, which removes medical debt from Washingtonians’ credit scores and bans unauthorized fees, threats of illegal actions and excessive contact by debt collectors. Riccelli explains, “I think there’s just this general understanding that if you wake up and you have a bad day, you end up in the emergency room, that shouldn’t impact whether or not you can get a job or get housing.” Considering recent moves by Congress, “We are going to need innovative and creative policy solutions and, frankly, state leadership to prevent our health care safety net from being shredded,” remarks Emily Brice, co-executive director of Northwest Health Law Advocates, a Fair Health Prices Washington partner.

Advocates reflect on the promise of Senate Bill 5083, which limits hospital prices for nearly 700,000 state and public school employees in Washington. In addition to federal cuts, public and school employee health insurance rates have risen more than 6% annually since 2021. This new law caps reimbursement rates for people covered by the Public Employees Benefits Board and School Employees Benefits Board. Fair Health Prices Washington partners from the Economic Opportunity Institute and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society contribute insights, including that “a similar law passed in Oregon in 2019, which saved the state more than $100 million and cut out-of-pocket costs for patients by nearly 10%.”

Puget Sound Business Journal shares insights from a recent panel discussion on health care costs. The conversation featured local panelists from Northwest Health Law Advocates, Regence BlueShield, Purchaser Business Group on Health, and Health Care Cost Institute. “Fair Health Prices Washington is an effort for health care purchasers to tackle affordability,” shared Emily Brice, co-executive director of Northwest Health Law Advocates, a Fair Health Prices Washington partner. “In 2024, Fair Health Prices Washington conducted a survey of about 1,000 Washington residents. . . . One out of every three people that we spoke with reported living in a household with active medical debt, so these are people who are drawing on their credit cards. What we’re seeing locally is this is something impacting people’s daily lives.”

This week Governor Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5480 into law. It prohibits collection agencies from reporting overdue medical debt to credit agencies, and it takes effect on July 27, 2025. This new law aims to offset some of the most damaging effects of medical debt, which can lead to extreme financial hardship and can keep people from accessing the health care they need. “Roughly six in 10 Washington adults say they could not pay an unexpected $500 medical bill, and about 30% say they live in a household with medical debt, even with health insurance,” the article declares, citing data from Fair Health Prices Washington’s 2024 Washington State Health Care Affordability Survey.

Response to “Cuts to Washington hospitals will hurt children statewide” (The Seattle Times, April 7, 2025). Op-Ed clarifies that proposed legislation does not cut patient care, but rather attempts to make hospitals and health care systems pay their fair share of taxes and reduce price hikes for patients. Contributed by Fair Health Prices Washington partners: Eileen Cody, former chair of Washington Senate House Health & Long-term Care Committee; physician Bob Crittenden, former health policy adviser to Washington’s governor; and Pam MacEwan, former CEO of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

Patient care is on the line the state Legislature considers changes to taxes and insurance payment caps. Hospitals argue that proposed measures will hurt revenue, jeopardize finances, and undermine the patient care they provide. Fair Health Prices Washington partner, Sam Hatzenbeler, from the Economic Opportunity Institute, uplifts the patient perspective: “Patients are always the ones who are asked to tighten our belts or skip needed lifesaving care to protect mega hospitals’ bottom lines. There is an inherent imbalance that needs to be addressed.”

Responding to “Hospitals say lawmakers’ plans may deal financial blow” (The Seattle Times, April 10, 2025), this Letter to the Editor outlines three concrete policy moves to better support patient care. Brian P. Wicks, M.D., of Silverdale, notes that more money could be dedicated to patient care if state law placed guardrails to restrict ballooning compensation for hospital executives, to keep market competition from making optimal care options cost-prohibitive, and to reduce the advertising dollars that hospitals and health care systems are permitted to spend.

The Washington Legislature faces a $12 billion budget shortfall and will decide on several significant health care bills over the coming weeks. Debra L. Glasser, M.D. provides updates and reflections on several Fair Health Prices Washington priorities, including bills that would protect public and school employees from unreasonably high medical bills, improve price transparency, reduce the impact of medical debt on family finances, and respond to federal Medicaid cuts.

“These stories aren’t just individual frustrations; they point to a health care system that is increasingly putting profits over people.” This op-ed from Senator Robinson highlights the need for Senate Bill 5083 and Senate Bill 5387. If passed, these bills would help protect public and school employees from excessive and unpredictable hospital bills, and they would reduce corporate influence over care delivery decisions. See also from the Everett Herald: “Everett Small Business Owner Struggles with Health Insurance Rate Hike” Jan. 22, 2025, and “Support legislation for fair hospital pricing” Feb. 28, 2025.