Help Save Small Clinics

Please Act Now
to Save Small Independent Clinics

Your insurance premiums go up and up, every single year.

How much of these increases do you think have been passed on to the clinics and clinicians providing the healthcare services you receive? The answer, at least for small independent clinics like Heart of Wellness, is almost nothing.

Hospitals and larger clinics have the ability to negotiate reimbursement rates with insurance companies. Small independent clinics, however, struggle to get a seat at the table. As a result, many small independent clinics are forced to close, limiting your access to high-quality, personalized care.

Finally however there are bipartisan bills before the WA State Legislature that if passed would require insurance companies to treat small independent clinics more fairly.

What to do

Two legislative bills are open for public comment right now. Your voice matters. Submitting a comment takes a few minutes and helps lawmakers understand the real-world impact of these proposals.

Step 1

Read about the bills to understand each and their impact on your healthcare experience.

HB 1589

SB 6071

Step 2

Copy the provided messages to submit for each bill. The pages will open in new windows so you can come back to this page if needed.

Step 3

Use the “Comment On” links below for both HB 1589 and SB 6071 to open a new page to send your comment directly to your legislators.

Step 4

Choose “Support” for each bill. You can write your own comment or use the suggested comment language provided, editing it as you see fit, Hit “Send Comment” and it’s done!

HB 1589 comment (copy/paste):

As a constituent and a supporter of accessible, high-quality healthcare, I am writing to urge you to support House Bill 1589.

This bipartisan legislation is vital to preserving independent medical clinics in Washington that are currently struggling to survive.

While large hospital systems can negotiate fair reimbursement rates with insurance companies, small independent clinics often lack a “seat at the table”. This imbalance leads to clinic closures and forces patients to seek care in more expensive hospital settings. HB 1589 levels the playing field by requiring insurance carriers to negotiate in “good faith”. Specifically, the bill mandates that insurers must:

Offer meaningful opportunities to negotiate contract terms.
Provide a dedicated contact person for negotiations.
Clearly indicate contract changes from previous agreements.
Share accessible fee schedules at least 60 days before a contract is executed.

Furthermore, this bill protects providers by prohibiting “take-it-or-leave-it” clauses and preventing insurers from forcing providers to accept discounts not included in their original contracts.

By supporting HB 1589, you are supporting the local providers who offer personalized care and ensure our community has diverse healthcare options. I look forward to hearing your position on this critical issue.

SB 6071 comment (copy/paste)

I am writing to you as a constituent and patient to urge your strong support for SB 6071.

Currently, health insurance carriers can demand “overpayment” refunds—commonly known as clawbacks—for up to 30 months after a claim has been settled. This outdated timeframe creates significant financial instability for local clinics and, more importantly, places an unfair burden on our patients.

SB 6071 is a common-sense solution that would:

Protect Patients: No one should receive a surprise bill for a medical service that took place over two years ago. When an insurer clawback occurs, the financial responsibility often shifts to the patient, causing unnecessary stress and hardship.

Ensure Clinic Stability: For small clinics, having two years of revenue remain “at risk” makes it difficult to manage budgets and reinvest in patient care.

Increase Efficiency: Shortening the window from 24+ months to 6 months encourages insurers to be more diligent and accurate in their initial processing.

A six-month window is a fair and reasonable standard that provides enough time for auditing without leaving families and providers in a state of perpetual financial uncertainty.

I respectfully ask for your “Yes” vote on SB 6071 to ensure a more transparent and fair healthcare system for our community.

Support House Bill 1589

HB 1589 preserves patients’ access to care by requiring insurance companies to engage in good faith negotiations with independent health care providers. “Good faith” means the insurer must:

Offer a meaningful opportunity to negotiate the terms of the contract
Provide a contact person for negotiations
Indicate how the contract is different from the previous contract
Share an easily accessible proposed fee schedule prior to contracting

HB 1589 also prohibits:

Requiring providers to take discounts that are not part of the original contract
Take-it-or-leave-it clauses

Comment on HB1589

Support Senate Bill 6071

SB 6071 shortens the timeframe that insurance carriers can demand clawbacks from clinics and patients.

Health insurance carriers can currently demand “overpayment” refunds (also known as “clawbacks”) for up to 2 1/2 years after a claim has been paid. The clinic then has to ask the patient to pay for services they received many months previously.

Nobody wants to be told that they suddenly owe more money for something that happened two years ago!

SB 6071 shortens this “clawback” time period from 24-30 months down to 6 months.

Comment on SB6071

Help Save Small Clinics

Please Act Now
to Save Small Independent Clinics

What to do

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Support House Bill 1589

Support Senate Bill 6071

Explore

Customer Service

Resources

Help Save Small Clinics

Please Act Now to Save Small Independent Clinics

What to do

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Support House Bill 1589

Support Senate Bill 6071

Explore

Customer Service

Resources

Please Act Now
to Save Small Independent Clinics