BILL REQ. #:  S-4301.1 

Read first time 01/15/08.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing a task force on primary care medical practice; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the citizens of Washington deserve primary care physicians that they can trust and rely upon for their health and illness care.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1)(a) The joint legislative task force on primary care medical practice is established, with members as provided in this subsection:
     (i) The president of the senate shall appoint one member from each caucus of the senate.
     (ii) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint one member from each caucus of the house of representatives.
     (iii) The governor shall appoint:
     (A) Two persons representing physicians practicing in the state, one of whom practices in a rural county, as defined in RCW 82.14.370;
     (B) Two members representing community clinics;
     (C) Two members representing health plans;
     (D) Two members representing the department of health; and
     (E) Two members representing the department of social and health services.
     (b) The task force shall choose bipartisan cochairs from among its legislative membership.
     (2)(a) The task force shall examine ways to recruit and retain primary care physicians in the state, including providing greater reimbursement rates for primary care physicians who:
     (i) Ensure that all patients have access to and know how to use a nurse consultant;
     (ii) Encourage female patients to have a mammogram on the evidence-based recommended schedule;
     (iii) Effectively implement strategies designed to reduce patients' use of nonemergent emergency room care;
     (iv) Communicate with patients through electronic means; and
     (v) Effectively manage blood sugar levels of patients with diabetes.
     (b) The task force shall also develop criteria for funding primary care pilot programs in the state.
     (3) The task force, where feasible, may consult with individuals from the public and private sector or ask such persons to establish an advisory committee. Members of the advisory committee are not entitled to expense reimbursement.
     (4) The task force shall use legislative facilities, and staff support shall be provided by senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research.
     (5) Legislative members of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members, except those representing an employer or organization, are entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (6) The expenses of the task force shall be paid jointly by the senate and the house of representatives. Task force expenditures are subject to approval by the senate facilities and operations committee and the house executive rules committee, or their successor committees.
     (7) The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2008.
     (8) This section expires December 31, 2008.