This bill reenacts and amends RCW 41.05.017 to make each health plan that provides medical insurance under chapter 41.05 RCW subject to a specified list of other RCW provisions. The act’s title indicates it relates to extending coverage of prosthetic limbs and custom orthotic braces to public and school employees, and Section 1 takes effect January 1, 2027. The change applies to health plans offered under chapter 41.05, plans created by insuring entities, plans not subject to Title 48 RCW, and plans created under RCW 41.05.140. The bill reenacts and amends 2025 c 389 s 3 and 2025 c 171 s 2 and lists numerous applicable provisions in chapters such as 48.43, 48.200, 70.02, and chapter 48.49 RCW. Legally, this is a modification of existing law: it reenacts and amends an existing RCW provision to impose additional statutory obligations on certain public employee health plans (a procedural/coverage-eligibility change), rather than creating a new criminal offense or changing penalties. The excerpt provided lists which RCW sections will apply but does not itself state explicit coverage terms for prosthetic limbs or custom orthotic braces, so it is unclear from these facts how the title’s subject is implemented or how the 2025 provisions are being amended; the full effect likely depends on the text of the referenced RCWs or other sections not included here. The bill was read for the first time on 01/19/26 and referred to the Committee on Health Care & Wellness.

If passed, starting January 1, 2027 the medical insurance plans offered under chapter 41.05 RCW for public and school employees would be made subject to a long list of existing Washington insurance and health statutes named in the bill. That means those employer-sponsored plans and plans created by insuring entities would have to follow the same statutory requirements listed in the act. The people most affected are public and school employees who get coverage through those plans, and the agencies or insurers that run them; those plan sponsors will likely face new compliance responsibilities and could see changes in required benefits, administrative rules, or costs that flow to premiums or plan design. The bill’s title says it concerns prosthetic limbs and custom orthotic braces, but the excerpt does not show the specific coverage changes or the prior statute text being amended, so it is unclear from this text alone exactly how benefits, funding, or cost-sharing would change without reviewing the referenced RCWs and reenacted sections.