May 28, 2021

WSMA Officer Joins Health Care Cost Transparency Board Advisory Committee

House Bill 2457 from 2020 established a health care cost transparency board, with the goal of improving the understanding of our state's health care spending and to set a health care cost growth benchmark for providers and payers. During legislative negotiations, your WSMA successfully advocated for physician and provider community representation in these discussions. Physician representation in any conversation around health care costs is crucial, particularly given our concern that efforts to control costs may unfairly single out physicians and overlook other drivers of costs. The board recently appointed an advisory committee made up of health care providers and carrier representatives. Representing the WSMA on the committee will be WSMA President-Elect Mika Sinanan, MD, PhD.