| 4 | 4 | | SB.docx |
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| 5 | 5 | | 1 of 3 |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | General Assembly Raised Bill No. 859 |
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| 8 | 8 | | January Session, 2019 |
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| 9 | 9 | | LCO No. 3696 |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | |
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| 15 | 15 | | Introduced by: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (PH) |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | AN ACT CONCERNING COMMU NITY HEALTH WORKERS. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General |
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| 22 | 22 | | Assembly convened: |
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| 23 | 23 | | |
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| 24 | 24 | | Section 1. Section 20-195sss of the general statutes is repealed and 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (a) As used in this section, "community health worker" means a 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | public health outreach professional with an in-depth understanding of 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | the experience, language, culture and socioeconomic needs of the 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | community who (1) serves as a liaison between individuals within the 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | community and health care and social services providers to facilitate 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | access to such services and health-related resources, improve the 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | quality and cultural competence of the delivery of such services and 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | address social determinants of health with a goal toward reducing 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | racial, ethnic, gender and socioeconomic health disparities, and (2) 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | increases health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | services including outreach, engagement, education, coaching, 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | informal counseling, social support, advocacy, care coordination, 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | research related to social determinants of health and basic screenings 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | and assessments of any risks associated with social determinants of 16 Raised Bill No. 859 |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | LCO 3696 {\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2019SB-00859- |
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| 44 | 44 | | 2 of 3 |
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| 45 | 45 | | |
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| 46 | 46 | | health. 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | [(b) The executive director of the Office of Health Strategy, 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | established under section 19a-754a, shall, within available resources 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | and in consultation with the Community Health Worker Advisory 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | Committee established by said office and the Commissioner of Public 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | Health, study the feasibility of creating a certification program for 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | community health workers. Such study shall examine the fiscal impact 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | of implementing such a certification program and include 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | recommendations for (1) requirements for certification and renewal of 25 |
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| 55 | 55 | | certification of community health workers, including any training, 26 |
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| 56 | 56 | | experience or continuing education requirements, (2) methods for 27 |
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| 57 | 57 | | administering a certification program, including a certification 28 |
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| 58 | 58 | | application, a standardized assessment of experience, knowledge and 29 |
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| 59 | 59 | | skills, and an electronic registry, and (3) requirements for recognizing 30 |
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| 60 | 60 | | training program curricula that are sufficient to satisfy the 31 |
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| 61 | 61 | | requirements of certification. 32 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (c) Not later than October 1, 2018, the executive director of the 33 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Office of Health Strategy shall report, in accordance with the 34 |
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| 64 | 64 | | provisions of section 11-4a, on the results of such study and 35 |
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| 65 | 65 | | recommendations to the joint standing committees of the General 36 |
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| 66 | 66 | | Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health and 37 |
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| 67 | 67 | | human services.] 38 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (b) Not later than January 1, 2020, the Department of Public Health 39 |
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| 69 | 69 | | shall establish a certification program for community health workers. 40 |
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| 70 | 70 | | The Commissioner of Public Health may adopt regulations, in 41 |
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| 71 | 71 | | accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement the 42 |
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| 72 | 72 | | provisions of this subsection. 43 |
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| 73 | 73 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following |
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| 74 | 74 | | sections: |
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| 75 | 75 | | |
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| 76 | 76 | | Section 1 July 1, 2019 20-195sss |
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| 77 | 77 | | Raised Bill No. 859 |
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| 78 | 78 | | |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 80 | 80 | | LCO 3696 {\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2019SB-00859- |
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