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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 394
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4881
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COUNCIL ON PROTECT ING WOMEN'S
HEALTH.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) There is established a 1
Council on Protecting Women's Health that shall advise the joint 2
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 3
matters relating to public health and insurance on strategies and any 4
necessary legislative changes to ensure that the actions of the federal 5
government do not impede the provision of health care to women in 6
the state. The council shall monitor legislation at the federal level and 7
any litigation relating to women's health and wellness that has the 8
potential to negatively impact women's health in the state and 9
immediately report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 10
of the general statutes, to such joint standing committees on strategies, 11
including, but not limited to, the initiation of legislation to protect 12
women's health in the state. 13
(b) The Council on Protecting Women's Health shall be comprised 14
of (1) the following ex-officio voting members: (A) The Commissioner 15
of Public Health, or the c ommissioner's designee; (B) the 16 Committee Bill No. 394
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Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, or the 17
commissioner's designee; (C) the Insurance Commissioner, or the 18
commissioner's designee; (D) the executive director of Office of Health 19
Strategy, or the executive director's designee; (E) the Healthcare 20
Advocate, or the Healthcare Advocate's designee; and (F) the Secretary 21
of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee; 22
and (2) fourteen public members, three of whom shall be appointed by 23
the president pro tempore of the Senate, three of whom shall be 24
appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, two of 25
whom shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, two of 26
whom shall be appointed by the majority leader of the House of 27
Representatives, two of whom shall be appointed by the minority 28
leader of the Senate and two of whom shall be appointed by the 29
minority leader of the House of Representatives, and all of whom shall 30
be knowledgeable on issues relative to women's health care in the 31
state. The membership of the council shall fairly and adequately 32
represent women who have had issues accessing quality health care in 33
the state. 34
(c) All appointments to the council shall be made not later than sixty 35
days after July 1, 2019. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing 36
authority. Members shall serve two-year terms and no public member 37
shall serve for more than two consecutive terms. 38
(d) The council shall elect two cochairpersons from among its 39
members. The council shall meet at least quarterly. Members of the 40
council shall serve without compensation, except for necessary 41
expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. 42
(e) The Joint Committee on Legislative Management shall provide 43
administrative support to the chairpersons of the council and 44
assistance in convening the council's meetings. 45
(f) Not later than January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the 46
council shall submit a status report on protecting women's health care 47
in the state, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the 48 Committee Bill No. 394
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general statutes, to the joint standing committees of the General 49
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health and 50
insurance. 51
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
PH Joint Favorable