General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5586
February Session, 2016 LCO No. 2435
*02435_______HS_*
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 5586
February Session, 2016
LCO No. 2435
*02435_______HS_*
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE FOR INJURIES SUSTAINED BY PERSONAL CARE ATTENDANTS EMPLOYED DIRECTLY BY CONSUMERS IN STATE-FUNDED PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2016) (a) For purposes of this section and sections 17b-706a, 17b-706b and 31-275, of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and section 5 of this act, "consumer", "personal care attendant" and "state-funded program" have the same meaning as provided in section 17b-706 of the general statutes. The Commissioner of Social Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Developmental Services, shall collaborate with the Commissioner of Administrative Services and the chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission to provide workers' compensation benefits for any personal care attendant employed directly by a consumer in a state-funded program. The Commissioner of Social Services shall require any fiscal intermediary for such state-funded program to manage workers' compensation benefits and disburse the benefits to such personal care attendant who sustains injuries on the property of a consumer.
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall, if necessary, amend any Medicaid waiver or the Medicaid state plan, in accordance with section 17b-8 of the general statutes, to (1) require fiscal intermediaries to manage and disburse workers' compensation benefits pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, and (2) increase allotment of Medicaid moneys per consumer, to the extent permissible under federal law, to cover the cost of workers' compensation benefits.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a personal care attendant hired by a consumer through a third-party employer other than the state in a state-funded program.
Sec. 2. Subparagraph (B) of subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 17b-706a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
(B) In those covered programs where budgets provided to consumers receiving direct support services are allocated using the individual budget methodology, budgets shall be increased to account for additional expenses caused by (i) a contract or award negotiated in accordance with this section [which] that includes increases in wages or benefits, or (ii) the cost of providing workers' compensation benefits for personal care attendants.
Sec. 3. Subparagraph (B) of subdivision (9) of section 31-275 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
(B) "Employee" shall not be construed to include:
(i) Any person to whom articles or material are given to be treated in any way on premises not under the control or management of the person who gave them out;
(ii) One whose employment is of a casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business;
(iii) A member of the employer's family dwelling in his house; but, if, in any contract of insurance, the wages or salary of a member of the employer's family dwelling in his house is included in the payroll on which the premium is based, then that person shall, if he sustains an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, be deemed an employee and compensated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;
(iv) Any person, other than a personal care attendant, as defined in section 17b-706, engaged in any type of service in or about a private dwelling provided he is not regularly employed by the owner or occupier over twenty-six hours per week;
(v) An employee of a corporation who is a corporate officer and who elects to be excluded from coverage under this chapter by notice in writing to his employer and to the commissioner; or
(vi) Any person who is not a resident of this state but is injured in this state during the course of his employment, unless such person (I) works for an employer who has a place of employment or a business facility located in this state at which such person spends at least fifty per cent of his employment time, or (II) works for an employer pursuant to an employment contract to be performed primarily in this state.
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 17b-706b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2016):
(a) Personal care attendants shall not be considered state employees, except as provided in section 5 of this act, and shall be exempt from any and all provisions of the general statutes creating rights, obligations, privileges or immunities to state employees as a result of or incident to their state service.
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2016) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17b-706b of the general statutes, as amended by this act, any personal care attendant employed directly by a consumer in a state-funded program shall be deemed a state employee for purposes of chapter 568 of the general statutes.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2016 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2016 17b-706a(e)(2)(B)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2016 31-275(9)(B)
Sec. 4 July 1, 2016 17b-706b(a)
Sec. 5 July 1, 2016 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2016
New section
Sec. 2
July 1, 2016
17b-706a(e)(2)(B)
Sec. 3
July 1, 2016
31-275(9)(B)
Sec. 4
July 1, 2016
17b-706b(a)
Sec. 5
July 1, 2016
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require fiscal intermediaries to manage workers' compensation benefits for consumers in state-funded programs that provide personal care attendants to consumers and to make personal care attendants employed directly by consumers state employees for the purposes of workers' compensation.
[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.]