Idaho — A Bill Introduced in Legislature to Annex Some Oregon Counties: The Greater Idaho Movement has convinced sponsors in the Idaho Legislature to introduce a bill to annex some counties of Oregon.
House Joint Memorial 1 includes annexing 11 Eastern Oregon counties. The sponsors are Idaho representatives Judy Boyle and Barbara Ehardt. Boyle says the finances alone make it worth looking at.
It could add an additional $170 million to Idaho’s annual budget.
Source link: NewsNation Now — https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/west/greater-idaho-oregon-secede/
Washington — Notice of Updated Surprise Billing Dataset: The Washington State Balance Billing Protection Act (BBPA) is E2SHB 1688 (Chap. 263, Laws of 2022) and will aligned the services subject to balance billing protections under the BBPA with those included in the federal No Surprises Act and included behavioral health crisis service providers as emergency services providers.
OIC and Onpoint collaborated with the Washington State Health Care Authority, carriers, providers and other interested groups to update the BBPA surprise billing data set. The updated February 2023 data set includes the additional services and makes the 2022 inflation adjustment required by RCW 43.371.100. The data set does not include median allowed amounts or billed charges for behavioral health emergency services provided in settings other than hospital emergency rooms, as the requirement for carriers to cover these services was enacted in 2022 and there is insufficient claims experience to calculate median amounts.
For more information, including the updated surprise billing data set, please visit OIC’s webpage on arbitration and using the balance billing dataset.
