Washington SB 5557: Providing sustainable support for new businesses.

Bill Text

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5557
Chapter 182, Laws of 2025
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
PREGNANT PERSONS—EMERGENCY MEDICAL CONDITION TREATMENT—HOSPITALS
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 29, 2025
Passed by the Senate March 5, 2025
Yeas 30 Nays 19
JOHN LOVICK
President of the Senate
Passed by the House April 11, 2025
Yeas 84 Nays 12
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 ENGROSSED
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5557 as
passed by the Senate and the House
of Representatives on the dates
hereon set forth.
SARAH BANNISTER
Secretary
Approved April 29, 2025 4:24 PM FILED
April 30, 2025
BOB FERGUSON
Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to codifying emergency rules to protect the right 1
of a pregnant person to access treatment for emergency medical 2
conditions in hospital emergency departments; amending RCW 3
70.170.060; reenacting and amending RCW 70.41.020; adding a new 4
section to chapter 70.41 RCW; creating a new section; and declaring 5
an emergency.6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that access to 8
reproductive health care is a long-established right in Washington 9
state. The people of Washington have repeatedly affirmed this right, 10
and it is the legislature's responsibility to ensure that our 11
residents have access to care that puts patients first regardless of 12
federal actions. Pregnant patients have been able to rely on federal 13
protections when they seek emergency medical care, but due to renewed 14
uncertainty at the federal level, the legislature must provide these 15
rights in state law so that pregnant patients in Washington state 16
have the strongest protections when seeking care. The legislature 17
finds the existing state law, including chapter 70.400 RCW, along 18
with current federal laws ensure that both physicians and hospitals 19
have a shared responsibility to deliver the highest quality of care 20
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5557
Passed Legislature - 2025 Regular Session
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senate Health & Long-Term Care (originally sponsored by Senators
Krishnadasan, Dhingra, Kauffman, Slatter, C. Wilson, Saldaña, Orwall,
Lovelett, Stanford, Cortes, Frame, Hasegawa, Liias, Nobles, Pedersen,
Trudeau, and Valdez)
READ FIRST TIME 02/21/25.
p. 1 ESSB 5557.SL

to pregnant patients to guarantee their legal access to all medically 1
appropriate options.2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 70.41 3
RCW to read as follows:4
When providing emergency services, hospitals shall provide 5
treatment to a pregnant person who comes to the hospital with an 6
emergency medical condition that is consistent with the applicable 7
standard of care for such condition or, if authorized by law, 8
transfer the patient to another hospital capable of providing the 9
treatment, with the informed consent of the patient. If termination 10
of the pregnancy is the treatment that is consistent with the 11
applicable standard of care, the hospital must provide such treatment 12
following and as promptly as dictated by the standard of care or, if 13
authorized by law, transfer the patient to another hospital capable 14
of providing the treatment, with the informed consent of the patient. 15
Neither the continuation of the pregnancy nor the health of any 16
embryo or fetus shall be a basis for withholding care from the 17
pregnant person, and neither the continuation of the pregnancy nor 18
the health of any embryo or fetus shall be prioritized over the 19
health or safety of the pregnant person absent the informed consent 20
of the pregnant person.21
Sec. 3. RCW 70.170.060 and 2022 c 197 s 2 are each amended to 22
read as follows:23
(1) No hospital or its medical staff shall adopt or maintain 24
admission practices or policies which result in:25
(a) A significant reduction in the proportion of patients who 26
have no third-party coverage and who are unable to pay for hospital 27
services;28
(b) A significant reduction in the proportion of individuals 29
admitted for inpatient hospital services for which payment is, or is 30
likely to be, less than the anticipated charges for or costs of such 31
services; or32
(c) The refusal to admit patients who would be expected to 33
require unusually costly or prolonged treatment for reasons other 34
than those related to the appropriateness of the care available at 35
the hospital.36
(2) No hospital shall adopt or maintain practices or policies 37
which would deny access to emergency care based on ability to pay. No 38
p. 2 ESSB 5557.SL

hospital which maintains an emergency department shall transfer a 1
patient with an emergency medical condition or who is in active labor 2
unless the transfer is performed at the request of the