Health Care Market Participants, Material Changes Notice: RCW 19.390 et seq
Current Status: Effective since January 1, 2020.
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Key Takeaways
- Requires parties to provide notice to the Washington Attorney General (“WA AG”) for certain transactions involving hospitals, hospital systems, and provider organizations, as well as transactions involving providers and provider organizations that must make a filing under the HSR Act.
- The parties must provide 60 days notice before closing to the WA AG.
- The statute provides time for the WA AG to review transactions, but does not grant any additional powers to block or modify transaction beyond existing Washington antitrust laws.
Applies to certain health care entities, including:
- Hospitals;
- Hospital systems; or
- Provider organizations representing 7 or more providers.
Parties must provide notice for certain mergers, acquisitions, or contracting affiliations between two or more covered entities that did not previously have a contracting affiliation or common ownership.
There are no specific revenue thresholds required under the statute, except that the statute only applies to out-of-state entities with at least $10 million in annual revenue from Washington residents.
Parties must provide notice to the WA AG at least 60 days before closing.
The WA AG may request additional information within 30 days of receiving notice, but does not have the ability to otherwise extend the notice period.
Any parties licensed or operating in Washington must submit a limited set of information to the WA AG, including:
- Party names and addresses;
- List of party locations where health care services are currently provided;
- A brief description of the nature and purpose of the proposed transaction; and
- The anticipated effective date of the proposed transaction.
A provider or provider organization conducting business in Washington that is required to make a HSR filing for a given transaction must provide a copy of the filing to the WA AG.
All materials provided to the WA AG will be kept confidential.
Parties may be liable for $200 per day fines for noncompliance with the statue.
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