Washington | #28 | Healthcare Openness and Access Rankings (2020)

The HOAP index ranks Washington near the middle of the 51 jurisdictions analyzed

The Healthcare Openness and Access Project (HOAP) measures the extent to which states leave patients, providers, and businesses free to seek or provide healthcare as they deem best. Each state is evaluated on 41 different indicators, receiving a score of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) for each indicator. These 41 indicators are grouped into 5 categories. A state’s category score is the average of all the indicators in that category. A state’s overall score is the average of the five category scores. Finally, the states are ranked by their overall scores.

The HOAP index ranks Washington near the middle of the 51 jurisdictions analyzed. Some of the state’s highest scores are in the Delivery Regulation category and the Patient Regulation category, and some of its lowest are in the Payment Regulation category and the Institutional Regulation category. Washington’s score and rank in each category are given below. The table shows Washington’s score for each indicator, along with the distribution of scores across the 50 states and Washington, DC.

Professional Regulation Category

Score: 3.40 (US mean: 3.14, median: 3.00), Rank: 18

A higher score indicates that healthcare professionals have easier access to licensure and greater flexibility with regard to employment in the healthcare sector. 

Indicator

WA Score 

US Mean

State allows medical licensure reciprocity with other states

5

3.20

State has fewer continuing medical education requirements

3

2.88

State grants nurse practitioners broad scope of practice

5

3.43

State has fewer optician licensing requirements

1

3.55

State grants behavioral health providers broad scope of practice

3

3.71

State grants midwives broad scope of practice

3

3.35

State grants pharmacists broad scope of practice

5

3.86

State grants dental hygienists broad scope of practice

3

2.57

State has less restrictive licensing of certified registered nurse anesthetists

1

1.94

State limits liability for charity caregivers

5

2.92

Institutional Regulation Category

Score: 1.50 (US mean: 2.96, median: 3.17), Rank: 49

A higher score indicates that healthcare institutions such as hospitals, payers, and pharmacies have greater flexibility to determine their business operations.

Indicator

WA Score

US Mean

State has fewer certificate-of-need restrictions

3

3.45

State puts fewer restrictions on compounding pharmacies

1

1.86

State does not mandate payers submit data to an all-payer claims database

1

3.51

State has fewer provider taxes

2

2.08

State allows entrepreneurial business structures

1

2.88

State does not have mandatory generic substitution laws

1

3.98

Patient Regulation Category

Score: 3.50 (US mean: 3.10, median: 3.00), Rank: 11

A higher score indicates that patients have easier access to certain types of drugs and harm-reducing substances and that they enjoy other protections.

Indicator

WA Score

US Mean

State allows access to CBD oil

5

3.49

State allows access to oral contraceptives without physician prescription

1

1.78

State has lower excise taxes on e-cigarettes

5

4.10

State allows access to naloxone

4

3.92

State offers protection for Good Samaritans

5

4.14

State has Free Speech In Medicine law

1

1.16

Payment Regulation Category

Score: 3.22 (US mean: 3.47, median: 3.56), Rank: 36

A higher score indicates that patients, insurers, and others have greater flexibility to determine the structure and pricing of health insurance policies and that individuals face a lower burden of taxation for certain healthcare services and devices.

Indicator

WA Score

US Mean

State mandates fewer health insurance benefits

3

3.06

State does not constrict age rating further than federal law

5

4.80

State has fewer health savings account (HSA) taxes

5

4.69

State has less medical taxation

2

3.41

State does not mandate that individuals buy health insurance

5

4.53

State does not restrict short-term renewable health plans

2

3.45

State allows drug manufacturer copay coupons

5

4.69

State allows insurers in other states to issue health insurance in the state

1

1.47

State allows prescription drug reimportation

1

1.12

Delivery Regulation Category

Score: 4.50 (US mean: 3.70, median: 3.60), Rank: 1

A higher score indicates that the state’s environment is more conducive to the establishment of new technologies and business arrangements that affect the delivery of care, including telemedicine and direct primary care (DPC) practices.

Indicator

WA Score

US Mean

State reimburses Medicaid providers at parity for store-and-forward telemedicine

5

2.06

State reimburses Medicaid providers at parity for remote monitoring

5

2.80

State allows broad Medicaid reimbursement by provider type 

5

4.22

State has less restrictive telepresenter requirements

5

4.90

State has less restrictive telepharmacy location laws

2

2.47

State allows online prescribing

3

3.12

State allows online eye exams

5

4.53

State does not treat DPC as insurance

5

4.08

State allows DPC drug dispensing

5

4.02

State allows DPC wholesale lab pricing

5

4.84

 

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