H-2188.2  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1805

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By House Committee on Health Care (originally sponsored by Representatives Backlund, Dyer, L. Thomas, Sump, Crouse, Smith, Sherstad, Zellinsky, Talcott, Lambert, Bush, Mulliken, Thompson, Johnson, Buck, Skinner, Boldt, D. Schmidt, Sterk, Clements, Hickel, Koster, Cooke, Mastin and Carrell)

Read first time 03/05/97.

Requiring the health care authority to offer health care savings accounts to unsubsidized basic health plan enrollees.

    AN ACT Relating to health care savings accounts under the basic health plan; and adding a new section to chapter 70.47 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 70.47 RCW to read as follows:

    The authority shall establish a health care savings account and catastrophic insurance pilot project for a four-year period to be offered to nonsubsidized enrollees in a basic health plan model.  To the extent possible, the covered services should be similar to those in the basic health plan offered to nonsubsidized enrollees not participating in the pilot project.  Requirements on eligibility, enrollee financial participation, and account management and use may be similar to the provisions of the federal medical savings account program of the federal health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996 (Part C, Title III, section 301), as amended.  The authority shall contract with an actuarial firm to develop the pilot project.  The firm must have extensive knowledge of the operations of health care savings accounts coverage and must have performed actuarial analyses for, at least, one hundred million dollars of health care savings account coverage and programs.  The authority shall offer the pilot project no later than October 1, 1998.  The authority shall conduct an evaluation on the pilot project's effectiveness and report its finding to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 31, 2001.  Except for start-up costs including program development and procurement, the full cost of the pilot project, including administration, marketing, and evaluation, is to be incurred by enrollee premiums and no additional cost is to be incurred by the state.  The authority may use grants and gifts for the purpose of supporting program development and operation.

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