This bill creates a new section in chapter 70.54 RCW that requires adult patients receiving primary care to be offered hepatitis B and hepatitis C screening tests during an annual physical, wellness visit, or the patient’s first visit with a provider new to the patient, using the latest CDC screening indications. Health care entities may comply by offering tests at those visits, adding electronic health record prompts for recommended populations, or sending routine mailers/electronic communications. Screenings must be offered in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. If a hepatitis B surface antigen test is positive, the provider must offer follow-up health care or refer the patient to another provider who can provide follow-up care. If a hepatitis C screening test is positive, the provider must offer follow-up health care or refer the patient and the follow-up must include a hepatitis C diagnostic test. The bill defines “follow-up health care” to include medical management and antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C according to the latest AASLD clinical practice guidelines. Exceptions to the offering requirement are a life‑threatening emergency, the patient already having been offered or having had the test (unless the provider chooses to offer again), or the patient lacking capacity to consent. The measure also requires primary care providers to complete University of Washington online hepatitis B and C training modules by January 1, 2026, and requires providers licensed or new to primary care after that date to complete the training before providing primary care. The Department of Health may adopt rules to implement the section. The statute expressly does not change scope of practice or diminish provider authority and states that failure to comply does not subject a provider or primary care entity to licensure or certification actions or civil or criminal liability for that failure. Affected parties named include primary care providers and the health care entities where primary care is provided (including unlicensed clinics and urgent care clinics), adult patients, the University of Washington (training modules), and the Washington State Department of Health. Several details are not provided in the extracted text: an exact RCW subsection citation for the new section, a definition of “adult patient,” precise criteria for which providers must complete the UW training, how CDC screening indications are to be identified or updated, content or accreditation details for the training modules, who pays for tests or follow-up care, and any enforcement, monitoring, or reporting mechanisms beyond DOH rulemaking.

If enacted, primary care clinics, urgent care centers, and the providers who work in them will be expected to offer hepatitis B and hepatitis C screening to adult patients during annual physicals, wellness visits, or a patient's first visit with a new provider using the latest CDC screening guidance, and to arrange or provide follow-up care (including a diagnostic HCV test) when results are positive. Providers must also complete University of Washington online hepatitis B and C training by January 1, 2026 (and new primary care providers must finish the training before they start), and the screenings and communications must be delivered in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways. That will create new front‑line responsibilities and likely added costs for clinics and providers — training time, staff time to offer tests and arrange referrals, and expenses for outreach or translated materials — though the bill does not say who pays for testing, diagnostics, or treatment. There is limited enforcement: failure to comply does not by itself trigger licensing or civil/criminal penalties, and the Department of Health can write implementing rules later, so some operational details and who ultimately bears costs or how CDC screening updates are applied remain unclear.