2026 Supplemental Budget Fails to Hit the Mark on Medicaid Funding
The final iteration of the 2026 state supplemental budget was released this morning in Olympia. Today’s budget was deeply disappointing for the assisted living communities that support low-income Washingtonians. Despite the Senate proposal to fund, the critically necessary rebase of assisted living Medicaid rates is delayed for one year and will remain at 82% of 2022 funding levels until July 1, 2027. We will redouble our advocacy and education work with legislators in the interim, and we will be calling on our key providers to support these efforts.
For skilled nursing facilities, the final supplemental plan is better than the original Ferguson proposal, which cut $100 million in Medicaid funding for skilled nursing and eliminated the rebase. In the final budget, $80 million in Medicaid funding has been retained, though the $20 million reduction does mean a phase-out of temporary rate add-ons used to stabilize the system. We appreciate that skilled nursing facility rate reductions are stayed with hold-harmless language intended to mitigate extreme rate swings precipitated by the phased-out funding, but we are equally concerned about budget caps that could further limit rate updates. There is more to understand about this measure.
While we are only providing a preliminary review of the budget today, please look for a detailed update and a policy round-up in a special final edition of Capitol Update on Friday, March 13. You can read the press release we issued today to learn more about how the WHCA team is responding to the budget.
Things will move quickly to adjournment tomorrow. The regular 60-day session called for rapid and sustained action from our advocates. We want to extend our sincere thanks to every member who stepped up this session. We track our engagement, recognizing that these numbers reflect real people taking time out of busy days to advocate for long-term care in their communities.
Our advocates were with us every step of the way, from the December release of the Governor’s devastating proposal for Medicaid funding in skilled nursing and assisted living. Despite a final supplemental budget plan with mixed results for our members, it was our members who helped turn the tide. Thank you to the 31 individuals who stepped up to testify in legislative hearings. Thank you to the advocates who sent 3,406 email messages and connected with legislators and legislative staff in scheduled meetings and with in-office telephone calls
This level of engagement with local legislators is necessary and important and is an excellent demonstration of leadership in action. Thank you for supporting our continued advocacy work in the interim.
