APTA WA Benton Franklin District

A Pain Science Approach to Low Back Pain - Dr. Kyle Bonin, PT, DPT, TPS
Thank you Dr. Bonin and for hosting such a great event for local Physical Therapists in our District! You are elevating our game

Opportunity to meet with local legislators for Tri Cities Physical Therapy Professionals! DM for details and we will send you the zoom link
Dec 18th 7-8pm Legislative Town Hall

Congratulations Noel Ybarra, PT, DPT, OCS on earning the award for Clinical Excellence from APTA WA. Your 11 (eleven!) years of dedicated service with orthopedic study groups for the Benton-Franklin District did not go unnoticed. Thank you for your teaching, clinical skills, and continual work to advance and our profession!

Upcoming local course! 27 credits

Local to Tri Cities Dry Needling Course coming up soon!

Health Care Bills of Interest

HB 1686, the bill directing the Department of Health to study the idea of creating a health care entity registry, is scheduled for executive session in the Senate Ways & Means Committee today.

HB 1392, the bill that creates the Medicaid Access Program to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates, has been designated “necessary to implement the budget” or NTIB. It’s scheduled for executive session in the Senate Ways & Means Committee today.

APTA Washington Priorities

HB 1589, our fair contracting bill, is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee on tomorrow! If your senator is on this committee, you will be receiving an action alert asking you to contact your senator. Please answer that call to action ASAP! The insurers are intensifying their opposition to our bill, so senators need to hear from you now!

Health for Health Care Professionals

The Department of Health's Power of Provider (POP) has created webinars curated for you and at no cost to you. The series will begin with Health for Health Care Professionals: Taking Care of Yourself as You Care for Others and features Washington’s prominent disaster psychologist, Dr. Kira Mauseth and will be on Wednesday, March 19th from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Learn more about this webinar and register here!

POP’s scope has recently broadened to include a focus on health care professional well-being. They are offering this webinar series as part of their mission to address the well documented challenges health care professionals face in their daily lives. This series is dedicated to the frontline health care professionals who work daily to improve the health and lives of all Washingtonians.

You can visit POP's webinar page for more information on the rest of the series.

APTA Washington New District Chairs

APTA Washington is excited to announce our new District chairs! Our new chairs are responsible for directing activities in their respective districts, and for carrying out membership recruitment and a retention agenda for the Chapter. Please join us in welcoming these dedicated individuals who have joined our efforts to grow and advocate in their districts.

Jenna Neff-Jacques, PT, DPT, OCS will be joining Justin Harris, PT, DPT, OCS as Co-Chair for our North Central district.
Leah Stefanou, PT, DPT and Shawn Brenneman, PT, DPT, FAFS, FGS will be Co-Chairs for our King district.
Jennifer Penrose, PT, DPT, OCS, MTC, former board member, is the new chair for our Lewis-Mason-Thurston district.
Thank you all for helping the association advance our mission and values. We appreciate your time and efforts in helping to advocate for the profession in our state.

If you are interested in a volunteer role with APTA Washington, please visit our APTA Washington Volunteer Leadership page to learn more.

TRICARE West Referral Waiver and Transition Challenges

On January 1, 2025, TriWest Healthcare Alliance (TriWest) became the contractor for the TRICARE West Region adding six states formerly in the East Region and resulting in significant challenges. In response, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) waived the requirement to obtain approval for referrals to outpatient specialty care for TRICARE Prime enrollees from January 1 – March 31, 2025.

Providers do not need to submit referral or authorization requests for TRICARE Prime enrollees for outpatient care during the temporary waiver period and referrals issued are valid for services rendered through June 30, 2025. Additional information including how to contact TriWest is provided at TRICARE West Region Transition.

DHA also acknowledges other operational challenges including payment set up. APTA is engaging congressional partners to address these issues on behalf of the physical therapy profession and will keep you informed of developments.

APTA Washington Priorities

HB 1589, our fair contracting bill, has been referred to the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee. We’re working with Senator Cleveland, the chair of that committee, to get the bill scheduled for a hearing.

Health Care Bills of Interest

HB 1686, the bill creating a health care entity registry, passed the House on a vote of 86-7 and is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday in the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee.
The bill was amended considerably on the House floor. It’s now a study bill, requiring the Department of Health (DOH) to develop a plan and recommendations regarding the creation of a complete and interactive registry.
Bills that did not survive the House of Origin cutoff deadline include:

HB 1392, the bill that creates the Medicaid Access Program to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates
SB 5387, the corporate practice of health care bill