Washington SB 5163: Removing the sunset provisions on the medicaid fraud false claims act.

Bill Text

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5163
Chapter 123, Laws of 2025
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
CHILD FATALITY REVIEWS
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 27, 2025
Passed by the Senate March 12, 2025
Yeas 48 Nays 0
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Passed by the House April 10, 2025
Yeas 85 Nays 10
LAURIE JINKINS
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
CERTIFICATE
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of
the Senate of the State of
Washington, do hereby certify that
the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE
BILL 5163 as passed by the Senate
and the House of Representatives on
the dates hereon set forth.
SARAH BANNISTER
Secretary
Approved April 22, 2025 9:35 AM FILED
April 22, 2025
BOB FERGUSON
Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to modernizing the child fatality statute; and 1
amending RCW 70.05.170.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 70.05.170 and 2010 c 128 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows:5
(1)(a) The legislature finds that the mortality rate in 6
Washington state among infants and children less than ((eighteen)) 19 7
years of age is unacceptably high, and that such mortality may be 8
preventable. The legislature further finds that, through the 9
performance of child ((mortality)) fatality reviews, preventable 10
causes of child mortality can be identified and addressed, thereby 11
reducing the infant and child mortality in Washington state.12
(b) It is the intent of the legislature to encourage the 13
performance of child ((death)) fatality reviews by local health 14
departments by providing necessary legal protections to the families 15
of children whose deaths are studied, local health department 16
officials and employees, and health care professionals participating 17
in child ((mortality)) fatality review committee activities.18
(2) As used in this section, "child ((mortality)) fatality 19
review" means a process authorized by a local health department as 20
such department is defined in RCW 70.05.010 for examining factors 21
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5163
Passed Legislature - 2025 Regular Session
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senate Human Services (originally sponsored by Senators Orwall,
Shewmake, Dhingra, Conway, Cleveland, Wellman, Hasegawa, Riccelli,
Saldaña, Nobles, Valdez, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 01/30/25.
p. 1 SSB 5163.SL

that contribute to deaths of children ((less than eighteen)) up to 19 1
years of age. The process may include a systematic review of medical, 2
clinical, and hospital records; home interviews of parents and 3
caretakers of children who have died; analysis of individual case 4
information; and review of this information by a team of 5
professionals in order to identify modifiable medical, socioeconomic, 6
public health, behavioral, administrative, educational, and 7
environmental factors associated with each death.8
(3) Local health departments are authorized to conduct child 9
((mortality)) fatality reviews. In conducting such reviews, the 10
following provisions shall apply:11
(a) All health care information collected as part of a child 12
((mortality)) fatality review is confidential, subject to the 13
restrictions on disclosure provided for in chapter 70.02 RCW. When 14
documents are collected as part of a child ((mortality)) fatality 15
review, the records may be used solely by local health departments 16
for the purposes of the review.17
(b) ((No identifying information related to the deceased child, 18
the child's guardians, or anyone interviewed as part of the child 19
mortality review may be disclosed. Any such information shall be 20
redacted from any records produced as part of the review.)) Local 21
health departments and the department may retain identifiable 22
information and geographic information on each case for the purposes 23
of determining trends, performing analysis over time, and for quality 24
improvement efforts. Information and records prepared, owned, used, 25
or retained by the local health departments, their respective 26
offices, or staff that reveals the identification and location of any 27
person or persons being the subject of review shall not be made 28
public in accordance with RCW 42.56.365.29
(c) Any witness statements or documents collected from witnesses, 30
or summaries or analyses of those statements or records prepared 31
exclusively for purposes of a child ((mortality)) fatality review, 32
are not subject to public disclosure, discovery, subpoena, or 33
introduction into evidence in any administrative((, civil, or 34
criminal)) or civil proceeding related to the death of a child 35
reviewed. This provision does not restrict or limit the discovery or 36
subpoena from a health care provider of records or documents 37
maintained by such health care provider in the ordinary course of 38
business, whether or not such records or documents may have been 39
supplied to a local health department pursuant to