The Washington State Senate has passed Senate Bill 5241, known as the Keep Our Care Act, which would add care access rules for hospital mergers.
The bill, which was passed by the Senate on Feb. 8, would require hospital, health system or provider organization mergers, acquisitions or contracting affiliations to provide additional documentation on how care access, like reproductive or gender-affirming care, would be affected by the transaction.
Under the bill, the state's attorney general would need to determine through a public process if said transaction could negatively affect accessible or affordable healthcare for at least 10 years post-transaction, according to an SB 5241 report.
"Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, patients from around the nation rely on states like Washington to provide life-saving abortion and gender-affirming care services," Sami Alloy, interim executive director of Pro-Choice Washington, said in a Feb. 8 Washington Senate Democrats news release. "It is even more essential that we protect these services from disappearing in our state due to unchecked health system consolidations. The Keep Our Care Act will do just that."
The attorney general also has authority to implement modifications or conditions on the transaction, or disapprove of the transaction entirely if it negatively affects healthcare access.
The bill passed with no Republican support and has many politicians concerned that its passing could lead to hospital closures.
"This bill is not good for our hospitals, big, small, or rural. This bill is going to cause many of our rural hospitals to close, and it's going to cost those hospitals a lot of money before they do," Washington Sen. Curtis King said on Feb. 8 in a Washington State Senate Republican YouTube channel video taken during floor debate.
Now that the bill has been passed by the Senate, it must go through the process of being passed by the House and then will go to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's desk for review.
If passed, the bill would be active starting Jan. 1, 2025.