WA| The Washington Insurance Commissioner issued Emergency Order No. 26-02 on August 7, 2026, effective immediately through September 30, 2026, under RCW 48.02.060(4)(b) & (c), following Governor Bob Ferguson’s August 1, 2026 Proclamation 26-03 declaring a statewide emergency for the ongoing 2026 wildfires and persistent dry conditions that have strained hospitals, closed or evacuated medical facilities, and cut residents off from medications and usual sources of care.
The order directs all health carriers authorized or admitted to offer fully insured health plans regulated by the Commissioner to:
- permit a one-time early refill of covered prescription medications before the normal refill waiting period expires, with discretion to weigh patient-safety risks for drug classes such as opioids, benzodiazepines, and stimulants;
- provide a grace period of at least 60 days for premium payment on individual and group plans — excluding qualified health plans bought with an advance premium tax credit through the Health Benefit Exchange — while paying all covered claims for services rendered in the first 30 days of that grace period, with permission to delay adjudicating later claims and a requirement that enrollee and plan-sponsor communications clearly state both the obligation to pay back premiums (and the risk of provider balance billing after day 30) and the carrier’s own obligations; and
- refrain from canceling any health plan for nonpayment of premium unless the insured specifically directs it. Geographically the order reaches all Washington zip codes, and adjacent zip codes, where wildfires have burned homes or structures or official evacuation orders have been issued, and it expressly does not apply to Medicaid, Medicare, PEBB/SEBB, or ERISA-governed plans including self-funded and Taft-Hartley plans; by statute it may run no more than 60 days unless extended up to an additional 30 days, and it terminates if the Governor ends the underlying state of emergency.