10 Year Analysis Complete for Senate Bill 5808

You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Initiative 960 email list. RCW 43.135.031 (I-960) requires that notices be sent each time a bill that raises taxes or fees is: introduced in either house; scheduled for a public hearing; approved by any legislative committee; or passed by either house of the Legislature.

Please note: This email message was sent from a notification-only address. Please do not reply to this message.

UPDATE: The 10 year analysis for SB 5808, titled AN ACT Relating to funding for health insurance premium assistance, has been completed. The Office of Financial Management has identified this bill as requiring a ten-year projection of increased cost to the taxpayers or affected fee payers.

Ten-year projection:

Office of Insurance Commissioner:

Section 2(2) requires, by October 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Office of Insurance Commissioner (OIC) to determine whether a nonprofit health carrier’s surplus is excessive. The surplus must be determined to be excessive if the surplus is greater than 600% of the nonprofit health carrier’s risk-based capital (RBC) requirements. 

Section 2(3) requires, if the OIC determines the surplus to be excessive, the nonprofit health carrier to pay 3% of the excessive surplus to the OIC within 90 days of the determination. Payments must be deposited in the state health care affordability account established by RCW 43.71.130 to administer a premium assistance program, as established in RCW 43.71.110. 

Based on 2024 year-end reported surplus, it is estimated that 13 nonprofit health carriers will have a surplus in excess of 600% of the RBC requirements with a total excess surplus of approximately $2.67 billion. As a result, OIC would expect to receive an estimated $80,100,000 ($2,670,000,000 excess surplus x 3%) in additional revenue for FY2027.  However, five of these nonprofit health carriers are not domiciled in Washington state.  If the bill were limited to Washington domiciled health carriers, eight carriers would have a surplus in excess of 600% of RBC requirements and OIC would expect to receive an estimated $46,900,000 ($1,562,000,000 x 3%) in additional revenue for FY2027. 

It is difficult to predict the amount of excess surplus that nonprofit health carriers will have in July 1, 2026, and more difficult to predict the amount of excess surplus that the nonprofit health carriers might have in years after 2026. Carriers may make significant expenditures from surplus in upcoming years, transfer surplus funding to their holding companies, or modify their financial practices. RCW 48.31B.030 addresses OIC review of extraordinary distributions by insurers.

Wash State Health Care Authority:

HCA - See attached narrative. 

HBE - See attached narrative.

Ten-year projection prepared in consultation with the following agencies:

Wash State Health Care Authority
Office of Insurance Commissioner


Bill sponsors and contact information:




Legislative Bill Information Website: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/

Initiative 960 Website: http://www.ofm.wa.gov/tax/default.asp