Connecticut 2021 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00979 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4	LCO No. 4266 1 of 3
5	5
6	6	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 979
7	7	January Session, 2021
8	8	LCO No. 4266
9	9
10	10
11	11	Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
12	12
13	13
14	14	Introduced by:
15	15	(HS)
16	16
17	17
18	18
19	19
20	20	AN ACT EXPANDING ACC ESS TO MEDICAL SPECIALISTS FOR
21	21	MEDICAID BENEFICIARIES IN SOUTHEASTERN CONNECT ICUT.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
23	23	Assembly convened:
24	24
25	25	Section 1. Section 17b-245e of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
26	26	following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
27	27	(a) For purposes of this section: (1) "Commissioner" means the 3
28	28	Commissioner of Social Services; (2) "department" means the 4
29	29	Department of Social Services; and (3) "telehealth" has the same 5
30	30	meaning as provided in section 19a-906. 6
31	31	(b) The department shall provide coverage under the Medicaid 7
32	32	program for telehealth services for categories of health care services that 8
33	33	the commissioner determines are (1) clinically appropriate to be 9
34	34	provided by means of telehealth, (2) cost effective for the state, and (3) 10
35	35	likely to expand access to medically necessary services where there is a 11
36	36	clinical need for those services to be provided by telehealth or for 12
37	37	Medicaid recipients for whom accessing appropriate health care 13
38	38	services poses an undue hardship. Not later than July 1, 2021, the 14
39	39	commissioner shall develop a plan to increase access to medical 15 Raised Bill No. 979
40	40
41	41
42	42
43	43	LCO No. 4266 2 of 3
44	44
45	45	specialists in the southeastern part of the state, including, but not limited 16
46	46	to, New London County, by expanding telehealth services. The 17
47	47	commissioner shall implement such plan not later than September 1, 18
48	48	2021. The commissioner may provide coverage of telehealth services 19
49	49	pursuant to this section notwithstanding any provision of the 20
50	50	regulations of Connecticut state agencies that would otherwise prohibit 21
51	51	coverage of telehealth services. [The commissioner may implement 22
52	52	policies and procedures as necessary to carry out the provisions of this 23
53	53	section while in the process of adopting the policies and procedures as 24
54	54	regulations, provided notice of intent to adopt the regulations is 25
55	55	published in accordance with the provisions of section 17b-10.] 26
56	56	(c) The commissioner shall seek any federal waiver or amend the 27
57	57	Medicaid state plan as necessary to attempt to secure federal 28
58	58	reimbursement for the costs of providing such coverage under the 29
59	59	Medicaid program. An application for such waiver or proposed 30
60	60	amendment to the Medicaid state plan shall be submitted to the joint 31
61	61	standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 32
62	62	matters relating to human services and appropriations and the budgets 33
63	63	of state agencies as required under the provisions of section 17b-8. 34
64	64	(d) Not later than [August 1, 2020] January 1, 2022, the commissioner 35
65	65	shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, 36
66	66	to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 37
67	67	cognizance of matters relating to human services and public health on 38
68	68	[(1) the categories of health care services in which the department is 39
69	69	utilizing telehealth services, (2) in what cities or regions of the state such 40
70	70	services are being offered, and (3) any cost savings realized by the state 41
71	71	by providing telehealth services] implementation of the plan to expand 42
72	72	access to medical specialists in the southeastern part of the state. 43
73	73	(e) The commissioner may implement policies and procedures as 44
74	74	necessary to carry out the provisions of this section while in the process 45
75	75	of adopting the policies and procedures in regulation form, provided 46
76	76	notice of intent to adopt the regulations is published in accordance with 47
77	77	the provisions of section 17b-10. 48 Raised Bill No. 979
78	78
79	79
80	80
81	81	LCO No. 4266 3 of 3
82	82
83	83	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
84	84	sections:
85	85
86	86	Section 1 from passage 17b-245e
87	87
88	88	Statement of Purpose:
89	89	To require the Commissioner of Social Services to expand access to
90	90	medical specialists in southeastern Connecticut by expanding telehealth
91	91	services.
92	92	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
93	93	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
94	94	underlined.]
95	95