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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 979
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4266
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT EXPANDING ACC ESS TO MEDICAL SPECIALISTS FOR
MEDICAID BENEFICIARIES IN SOUTHEASTERN CONNECT ICUT.
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 Section 17b-245e of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) For purposes of this section: (1) "Commissioner" means the 3
Commissioner of Social Services; (2) "department" means the 4
Department of Social Services; and (3) "telehealth" has the same 5
meaning as provided in section 19a-906. 6
(b) The department shall provide coverage under the Medicaid 7
program for telehealth services for categories of health care services that 8
the commissioner determines are (1) clinically appropriate to be 9
provided by means of telehealth, (2) cost effective for the state, and (3) 10
likely to expand access to medically necessary services where there is a 11
clinical need for those services to be provided by telehealth or for 12
Medicaid recipients for whom accessing appropriate health care 13
services poses an undue hardship. Not later than July 1, 2021, the 14
commissioner shall develop a plan to increase access to medical 15 Raised Bill No. 979
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specialists in the southeastern part of the state, including, but not limited 16
to, New London County, by expanding telehealth services. The 17
commissioner shall implement such plan not later than September 1, 18
2021. The commissioner may provide coverage of telehealth services 19
pursuant to this section notwithstanding any provision of the 20
regulations of Connecticut state agencies that would otherwise prohibit 21
coverage of telehealth services. [The commissioner may implement 22
policies and procedures as necessary to carry out the provisions of this 23
section while in the process of adopting the policies and procedures as 24
regulations, provided notice of intent to adopt the regulations is 25
published in accordance with the provisions of section 17b-10.] 26
(c) The commissioner shall seek any federal waiver or amend the 27
Medicaid state plan as necessary to attempt to secure federal 28
reimbursement for the costs of providing such coverage under the 29
Medicaid program. An application for such waiver or proposed 30
amendment to the Medicaid state plan shall be submitted to the joint 31
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 32
matters relating to human services and appropriations and the budgets 33
of state agencies as required under the provisions of section 17b-8. 34
(d) Not later than [August 1, 2020] January 1, 2022, the commissioner 35
shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, 36
to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 37
cognizance of matters relating to human services and public health on 38
[(1) the categories of health care services in which the department is 39
utilizing telehealth services, (2) in what cities or regions of the state such 40
services are being offered, and (3) any cost savings realized by the state 41
by providing telehealth services] implementation of the plan to expand 42
access to medical specialists in the southeastern part of the state. 43
(e) The commissioner may implement policies and procedures as 44
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section while in the process 45
of adopting the policies and procedures in regulation form, provided 46
notice of intent to adopt the regulations is published in accordance with 47
the provisions of section 17b-10. 48 Raised Bill No. 979
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 17b-245e
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Commissioner of Social Services to expand access to
medical specialists in southeastern Connecticut by expanding telehealth
services.
[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.]