Connecticut 2016 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB05439 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5439
2	2	February Session, 2016 LCO No. 1715
3	3	01715_______HS_
4	4	Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
5	5	Introduced by:
6	6	(HS)
7	7
8	8	General Assembly
9	9
10	10	Raised Bill No. 5439
11	11
12	12	February Session, 2016
13	13
14	14	LCO No. 1715
15	15
16	16	01715_______HS_
17	17
18	18	Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
19	19
20	20	Introduced by:
21	21
22	22	(HS)
23	23
24	24	AN ACT CONCERNING THE ELIMINATION OF ASSET LIMITS IN CERTAIN PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
25	25
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
27	27
28	28	Section 1. Section 17b-80 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
29	29
30	30	(a) The commissioner, upon receipt of an application for aid, shall promptly and with due diligence make an investigation, such investigation to be completed within forty-five days after receipt of the application or within sixty days after receipt of the application in the case of an application in which a determination of disability must be made. If an application for an award is not acted on within forty-five days after the filing of an application, or within sixty days in the case of an application in which a determination of disability must be made, the applicant may apply to the commissioner for a hearing in accordance with sections 17b-60 and 17b-61. The commissioner shall grant aid only [if he finds] upon finding the applicant eligible therefor, in which case [he] the commissioner shall grant aid in such amount, determined in accordance with levels of payments established, [by the commissioner,] as is needed in order to enable the applicant to support himself, or, in the case of temporary family assistance, to enable the relative to support such dependent child or children and himself, in health and decency, including the costs of such medical care as [he] the commissioner deems necessary and reasonable, not in excess of the amounts set forth in the various fee schedules promulgated by the Commissioner of Social Services for medical, dental and allied services and supplies or the charges made for comparable services and supplies to the general public, whichever is less, and the cost of necessary hospitalization as is provided in section 17b-239, over and above hospital insurance or other such benefits, including workers' compensation and claims for negligent or wilful injury. The commissioner, subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, shall in determining need, take into consideration any available income [and resources] of the individual claiming assistance. The commissioner shall not take assets into consideration when determining need for aid under the state supplement program, the temporary family assistance program or the state-administered general assistance program. The commissioner shall make periodic investigations to determine eligibility and may, at any time, modify, suspend or discontinue an award previously made when such action is necessary to carry out the provisions of the state supplement program, medical assistance program, temporary family assistance program, state-administered general assistance program or supplemental nutrition assistance program. The parent or parents of any child for whom aid is received under the temporary family assistance program and any beneficiary receiving assistance under the state supplement program shall be conclusively presumed to have accepted the provisions of sections 17b-93, 17b-94 and 17b-95.
31	31
32	32	(b) The commissioner shall disregard any earned income of a child who is a student in determining the eligibility, standard of need and amount of assistance of a family in the TFA program.
33	33
34	34	[(c) No person shall be eligible for the state supplement program whose assets as defined by the commissioner exceed sixteen hundred dollars or, if living with a spouse, whose combined assets exceed twenty-four hundred dollars.]
35	35
36	36	Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 17b-191 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
37	37
38	38	(c) To be eligible for cash assistance under the program, a person shall [(1) be (A)] be (1) eighteen years of age or older; [(B)] (2) a minor found by a court to be emancipated pursuant to section 46b-150; or [(C)] (3) under eighteen years of age and the commissioner determines good cause for such person's eligibility. [, and (2) not have assets exceeding two hundred fifty dollars or, if such person is married, such person and his or her spouse shall not have assets exceeding five hundred dollars.] In determining eligibility, the commissioner shall not consider as income Aid and Attendance pension benefits granted to a veteran, as defined in section 27-103, or the surviving spouse of such veteran. No person who is a substance abuser and refuses or fails to enter available, appropriate treatment shall be eligible for cash assistance under the program until such person enters treatment. No person whose benefits from the temporary family assistance program have terminated as a result of time-limited benefits or for failure to comply with a program requirement shall be eligible for cash assistance under the program.
39	39
40	40	Sec. 3. Section 42-204 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
41	41
42	42	The legal representative of the decedent or a person who has entered into a revocable funeral service contract with a funeral service establishment, upon written notice to such establishment and to the escrow agent, if any, [and subject to the provisions of section 17b-91,] may cancel any revocable funeral service contract prior to the performance by such establishment. In the event of such a cancellation, all money in the escrow account paid by such person, together with all accrued income, less costs actually and reasonably incurred by the funeral service establishment in the performance of such contract, shall be returned to such person.
43	43
44	44	Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 45a-660 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes, as amended by section 53 of public act 15-240, is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
45	45
46	46	(a) (1) A conserved person may, at any time, petition the court of probate having jurisdiction for the termination of a conservatorship. A petition for termination of a conservatorship shall be determined by a preponderance of the evidence. The conserved person shall not be required to present medical evidence at such a hearing. A hearing on the petition shall be held not later than thirty days after the date the petition was filed in the Court of Probate, unless the hearing is continued for good cause. If such hearing is not held within such thirty-day period or continuance period, if applicable, the conservatorship shall terminate. If the court of probate having jurisdiction finds a conserved person to be capable of caring for himself or herself, the court shall, upon hearing and after notice, order that the conservatorship of the person be terminated. The court may also order the reinstatement of any authority of any agent under a power of attorney that was previously limited, suspended or terminated by the court because of the conservatorship. If the court finds upon hearing and after notice which the court prescribes, that a conserved person is capable of managing his or her own affairs, the court shall order that the conservatorship of the estate be terminated and that the remaining portion of the conserved person's property be restored to the conserved person. (2) If the court finds upon hearing and after notice which the court prescribes that a conserved person has no assets of any kind remaining [except for that amount allowed by subsection (c) of section 17b-80,] the court may order that the conservatorship of the estate be terminated. The court shall thereupon order distribution of the remaining assets to the conservator of the person or, if there is no conservator or the conservator declines or is unable to accept or the conservator is the Commissioner of Social Services, to some suitable person, to be determined by the court, to hold for the benefit of the conserved person, upon such conservator or person giving such probate bond, if any, as the court orders. (3) If any conserved person having a conservator dies, the conserved person's property other than property which has accrued from the sale of the conserved person's real property shall be delivered to the conserved person's executor or administrator. The unexpended proceeds of the conserved person's real property sold as aforesaid shall go into the hands of the executor or administrator, to be distributed as such real property would have been.
47	47
48	48	Sec. 5. Section 53a-290 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
49	49
50	50	A person commits vendor fraud when, with intent to defraud and acting on such person's own behalf or on behalf of an entity, such person provides goods or services to a beneficiary under sections 17b-22, 17b-75 to 17b-77, inclusive, 17b-79 to 17b-103, inclusive, 17b-180a, [17b-183,] 17b-260 to 17b-262, inclusive, 17b-264 to 17b-285, inclusive, 17b-357 to 17b-361, inclusive, 17b-600 to 17b-604, inclusive, 17b-749, 17b-807 and 17b-808 or provides services to a recipient under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, as amended, and, (1) presents for payment any false claim for goods or services performed; (2) accepts payment for goods or services performed, which exceeds either the amounts due for goods or services performed, or the amounts authorized by law for the cost of such goods or services; (3) solicits to perform services for or sell goods to any such beneficiary, knowing that such beneficiary is not in need of such goods or services; (4) sells goods to or performs services for any such beneficiary without prior authorization by the Department of Social Services, when prior authorization is required by said department for the buying of such goods or the performance of any service; or (5) accepts from any person or source other than the state an additional compensation in excess of the amount authorized by law.
51	51
52	52	Sec. 6. Sections 17b-91 and 17b-183 of the general statutes are repealed. (Effective July 1, 2016)
53	53
54	54
55	55
56	56
57	57	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
58	58	Section 1 July 1, 2016 17b-80
59	59	Sec. 2 July 1, 2016 17b-191(c)
60	60	Sec. 3 July 1, 2016 42-204
61	61	Sec. 4 July 1, 2016 45a-660(a)
62	62	Sec. 5 July 1, 2016 53a-290
63	63	Sec. 6 July 1, 2016 Repealer section
64	64
65	65	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
66	66
67	67	Section 1
68	68
69	69	July 1, 2016
70	70
71	71	17b-80
72	72
73	73	Sec. 2
74	74
75	75	July 1, 2016
76	76
77	77	17b-191(c)
78	78
79	79	Sec. 3
80	80
81	81	July 1, 2016
82	82
83	83	42-204
84	84
85	85	Sec. 4
86	86
87	87	July 1, 2016
88	88
89	89	45a-660(a)
90	90
91	91	Sec. 5
92	92
93	93	July 1, 2016
94	94
95	95	53a-290
96	96
97	97	Sec. 6
98	98
99	99	July 1, 2016
100	100
101	101	Repealer section
102	102
103	103	Statement of Purpose:
104	104
105	105	To eliminate asset limits in certain public assistance programs.
106	106
107	107	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]