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| 4 | 4 | | LCO No. 4531 1 of 3 |
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| 6 | 6 | | General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1054 |
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| 7 | 7 | | January Session, 2021 |
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| 8 | 8 | | LCO No. 4531 |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | Introduced by: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (HS) |
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| 16 | 16 | | |
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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 ESTABLISHING A STATE HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE |
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| 21 | 21 | | OMBUDSMAN. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General |
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| 23 | 23 | | Assembly convened: |
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| 24 | 24 | | |
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| 25 | 25 | | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) (a) There is established an 1 |
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| 26 | 26 | | independent ombudsman office within the Department of Public Health 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | to receive concerns and complaints concerning home health care and 3 |
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| 28 | 28 | | hospice care and make recommendations to the Commissioners of 4 |
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| 29 | 29 | | Public Health and Social Services for resolving such concerns and 5 |
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| 30 | 30 | | complaints. 6 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (b) The Commissioner of Public Health shall appoint a State Home 7 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Health and Hospice Ombudsman who shall be selected from among 8 |
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| 33 | 33 | | individuals with expertise and experience in home health care and 9 |
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| 34 | 34 | | hospice care. In the event the State Home Health and Hospice 10 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Ombudsman is unable to fulfill the duties of the office, the 11 |
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| 36 | 36 | | commissioner shall appoint an acting State Home Health and Hospice 12 |
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| 37 | 37 | | Ombudsman. 13 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (c) The State Home Health and Hospice Ombudsman shall serve on 14 |
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| 39 | 39 | | a full-time basis, and shall: 15 Raised Bill No. 1054 |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | LCO No. 4531 2 of 3 |
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| 44 | 44 | | |
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| 45 | 45 | | (1) Identify, investigate and make recommendations to address 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | concerns and resolve complaints relating to (A) home health care, 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | including, but not limited to, the Connecticut home-care program for 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | the elderly established pursuant to section 17b-342 of the general 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | statutes; and (B) an organization licensed as a hospice by the 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | Department of Public Health in accordance with section 19a-122b of the 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | general statutes; 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (2) Ensure that persons receiving home health care or hospice care, 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | and their representatives, have regular and timely access to the services 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | provided through the ombudsman's office and receive timely responses 25 |
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| 55 | 55 | | from the office; 26 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (3) Analyze, comment on and monitor the development and 27 |
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| 57 | 57 | | implementation of federal, state and local laws, regulations, and other 28 |
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| 58 | 58 | | governmental policies and actions that pertain to home health care and 29 |
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| 59 | 59 | | hospice care; and 30 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (4) Recommend any changes in such laws, regulations, policies and 31 |
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| 61 | 61 | | actions as the office determines to be appropriate. 32 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (d) Not later than January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the State 33 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Home Health and Hospice Ombudsman shall file a report, in 34 |
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| 64 | 64 | | accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, 35 |
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| 65 | 65 | | with the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 36 |
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| 66 | 66 | | cognizance of matters relating to human services and public health on 37 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (1) the number of complaints or concerns received by the ombudsman, 38 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (2) the resolution of such complaints and concerns, and (3) 39 |
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| 69 | 69 | | recommendations to (A) improve outreach to persons receiving home 40 |
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| 70 | 70 | | health care and hospice care; and (B) expeditiously address concerns 41 |
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| 71 | 71 | | and resolve complaints received from such persons. 42 |
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| 72 | 72 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following |
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| 73 | 73 | | sections: |
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| 74 | 74 | | |
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| 75 | 75 | | Section 1 July 1, 2021 New section |
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| 76 | 76 | | Raised Bill No. 1054 |
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| 80 | 80 | | LCO No. 4531 3 of 3 |
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| 81 | 81 | | |
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| 82 | 82 | | Statement of Purpose: |
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| 83 | 83 | | To appoint a state ombudsman to monitor and respond to complaints |
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| 84 | 84 | | and concerns regarding home health care and hospice care. |
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| 85 | 85 | | [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except |
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| 86 | 86 | | that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not |
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| 87 | 87 | | underlined.] |
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| 88 | 88 | | |
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