Substitute Senate Bill No. 1052
Public Act No. 19-76
AN ACT EXPANDING MED ICAID COVERAGE OF TE LEHEALTH
SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17b-245e of the general statutes is repealed and
the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019):
(a) For purposes of this section: (1) "Commissioner" means the
Commissioner of Social Services; (2) "department" means the
Department of Social Services; and (3) "telehealth" has the same
meaning as provided in section 19a-906.
(b) The department shall [, within available state and federal
resources,] provide coverage under the Medicaid program for
telehealth services for categories of health care services that the
commissioner determines are (1) clinically appropriate to be provided
by means of telehealth, (2) cost effective for the state, and (3) likely to
expand access to medically necessary services where there is a clinical
need for those services to be provided by telehealth or for Medicaid
recipients for whom accessing appropriate health care services poses
an undue hardship. The commissioner may provide coverage of
telehealth services pursuant to this section notwithstanding any
provision of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies that would Substitute Senate Bill No. 1052
Public Act No. 19-76 2 of 2
otherwise prohibit coverage of telehealth services. The commissioner
may implement policies and procedures as necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section while in the process of adopting the policies
and procedures as regulations, provided notice of intent to adopt the
regulations is published in accordance with the provisions of section
17b-10.
(c) The commissioner shall seek any federal waiver or amend the
Medicaid state plan as necessary to attempt to secure federal
reimbursement for the costs of providing such coverage under the
Medicaid program. An application for such waiver or proposed
amendment to the Medicaid state plan shall be submitted to the joint
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of
matters relating to human services and appropriations and the budgets
of state agencies as required under the provisions of section 17b-8.
(d) Not later than [January 1, 2018] August 1, 2020, the
commissioner shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions
of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and
public health [concerning the telehealth services provided to Medicaid
recipients, if any, in accordance with the provisions of this section] on
(1) the categories of health care services in which the department is
utilizing telehealth services, (2) in what cities or regions of the state
such services are being offered, and (3) any cost savings realized by the
state by providing telehealth services.