1. (1) If a public option plan is not available in each county in the state during plan year 2022 or later, the following requirements apply for all subsequent plan years:

   1. (a) Upon an offer from a public option plan, a hospital licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW that receives payment for services provided to enrollees in the public employees' benefits program or school employees' benefits program, or through a medical assistance program under chapter 74.09 RCW, must contract with at least one public option plan to provide in-network services to enrollees of that plan. This subsection (1)(a) does not apply to a hospital owned and operated by a health maintenance organization licensed under chapter 48.46 RCW; and
   2. (b) The authority shall contract, under RCW 41.05.410, with one or more health carriers to offer at least one standardized bronze, one standardized silver, and one standardized gold qualified health plan in every county in the state or in each county within a region of the state.
2. (2) Health carriers and hospitals may not condition negotiations or participation of a hospital licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW in any health plan offered by the health carrier on the hospital's negotiations or participation in a public option plan.

3. (3) By December 1st of the plan year during which enrollment in public option plans statewide is greater than 10,000 covered lives:

   1. (a) The health benefit exchange, in consultation with the insurance commissioner and the authority, shall analyze public option plan rates paid to hospitals for in-network services and whether they have impacted hospital financial sustainability. The analysis must include any impact on hospitals' operating margins during the years public option health plans have been offered in the state and the estimated impact on operating margins in future years if enrollment in public option plans increases. It must also examine the income levels of public option plan enrollees over time. The analysis may examine a sample of hospitals of various sizes and located in various counties. In conducting its analysis, the exchange must give substantial weight to any available reporting of health care provider and health system costs under RCW 70.390.050;
   2. (b) The health care cost transparency board established under chapter 70.390 RCW shall analyze the effect that enrollment in public option plans has had on consumers, including an analysis of the benefits provided to, and premiums and cost-sharing amounts paid by, consumers enrolled in public option plans compared to other standardized and nonstandardized qualified health plans; and
   3. (c) The health benefit exchange, in consultation with the insurance commissioner, the authority, and interested stakeholders, including, but not limited to, statewide associations representing hospitals, health insurers, and physicians, shall review the analyses completed under (a) and (b) of this subsection and develop recommendations to the legislature to address financial or other issues identified in the analyses.
4. (4) The authority may adopt program rules, in consultation with the office of the insurance commissioner, to ensure compliance with this section, including levying fines and taking other contract actions it deems necessary to enforce compliance with this section.
5. (5) For the purposes of this section, "public option plan" means a qualified health plan contracted by the authority under RCW 41.05.410.

[ 2021 c 246 s 5.]