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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5040
February Session, 2022
AN ACT CONCERNING THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGET
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HUMAN SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-7d of the 2022 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective from passage): 3
(a) [Not later than January 1, 2022, the] The Commissioner of Public 4
Health shall establish, within available resources, a program to provide 5
three-year grants to community-based providers of primary care 6
services in order to expand access to health care for the uninsured. The 7
grants may be awarded to community-based providers of primary care 8
for (1) funding for direct services, (2) recruitment and retention of 9
primary care clinicians and registered nurses through subsidizing of 10
salaries or through a loan repayment program, and (3) capital 11
expenditures. The community-based providers of primary care under 12
the direct service program shall provide, or arrange access to, primary 13
and preventive services, behavioral health services, referrals to specialty 14
services, including rehabilitative and mental health services, inpatient 15
care, prescription drugs, basic diagnostic laboratory services, health 16
education and outreach to alert people to the availability of services. 17
Primary care clinicians and registered nurses participating in the state 18 Substitute Bill No. 5040
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loan repayment program or receiving subsidies shall provide services 19
to the uninsured based on a sliding fee schedule, provide free care if 20
necessary, accept Medicare assignment and participate as Medicaid 21
providers, or provide nursing services in school-based health centers 22
and expanded school health sites, as such terms are defined in section 23
19a-6r. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with 24
the provisions of chapter 54, to establish eligibility criteria, services to 25
be provided by participants, the sliding fee schedule, reporting 26
requirements and the loan repayment program. For the purposes of this 27
section, "primary care clinicians" includes family practice physicians, 28
general practice osteopaths, obstetricians and gynecologists, internal 29
medicine physicians, pediatricians, dentists, certified nurse midwives, 30
advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, [and] dental 31
hygienists, psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, 32
licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed professional 33
counselors. 34
(b) Funds appropriated for the state loan repayment program shall 35
not lapse until fifteen months following the end of the fiscal year for 36
which such funds were appropriated. 37
Sec. 2. Section 36 of public act 21-2 of the June special session is 38
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 39
passage): 40
(a) As used in this section: 41
(1) "Community action agency" means a public or private nonprofit 42
agency which has previously been designated by and authorized to 43
accept funds from the federal Community Services Administration for 44
community action agencies under the Economic Opportunity Act of 45
1964, or a successor agency established pursuant to section 17b-892 of 46
the general statutes; 47
(2) "Community health worker" means a public health outreach 48
professional with an in-depth understanding of the experience, 49 Substitute Bill No. 5040
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language, culture and socioeconomic needs of the community and who 50
provides a range of services, including, but not limited to, outreach, 51
engagement, education, coaching, informal counseling, social support, 52
advocacy, care coordination, research related to social determinants of 53
health and basic screenings and assessments of any risks associated with 54
social determinants of health; and 55
(3) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 56
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 57
and any related mutation thereof recognized by said organization as a 58
communicable respiratory disease. 59
(b) The Department of [Public Health] Social Services shall establish 60
a community health worker grant program. The purpose of such 61
program shall be to provide grants to community action agencies that 62
employ community health workers who provide a range of services to 63
persons adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The department 64
may enter into an agreement, pursuant to chapter 55a of the general 65
statutes, with a person, firm, corporation or other entity to operate such 66
program. 67
(c) The Department of [Public Health] Social Services shall publish on 68
its Internet web site a notice of grant availability for the period 69
beginning on [the effective date of this section] June 23, 2021, and ending 70
on June 30, [2023] 2024. 71
(d) Each community action agency applying for a grant under this 72
section shall submit an application in such form and manner as 73
prescribed by the Commissioner of [Public Health] Social Services. Each 74
application shall include the following information: (1) The location of 75
the principal place of business of the applicant; (2) the number of 76
community health workers employed by the applicant [or that] and the 77
number of community health workers the applicant seeks to employ 78
under the grant and the range of services provided or to be provided by 79
such community health workers; (3) an explanation of the intended use 80
of the grant being applied for; (4) strategies for integrating community 81 Substitute Bill No. 5040
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health workers into an individual's care delivery team, including, but 82
not limited to, the capacity to address health care and social services 83
needs; and [(4)] (5) such other information that the commissioner deems 84
necessary. 85
(e) The Department of [Public Health] Social Services shall review all 86
grant applications received under the program and determine which 87
applications are eligible for funding. Criteria for such determinations 88
shall be established by the department and included in the notice of 89
grant availability described in subsection (c) of this section. 90
(f) The amount of any grant issued to a community action agency 91
pursuant to this section shall not exceed thirty thousand dollars 92
annually per community health worker employed by such agency and 93
the total amount of grants issued to community action agencies in the 94
aggregate shall not exceed six million dollars. No grant shall be issued 95
pursuant to this section after June 30, [2023] 2024. 96
[(g) (1) Not later than January 1, 2022, the Commissioner of Public 97
Health shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 98
of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 99
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health and 100
human services regarding the progress of the program and including 101
any requisite legislative proposals to accomplish the goals of the 102
program.] 103
[(2)] (g) Not later than January 1, 2024, the Commissioner of [Public 104
Health] Social Services shall report, in accordance with the provisions of 105
section 11-4a of the general statutes, on the community health worker 106
grant program to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 107
having cognizance of matters relating to public health and human 108
services. Such report shall include the following data regarding the 109
program: [(A)] (1) The number of grants provided and the amount of 110
such grants; [(B)] (2) the identities of the community action agencies that 111
received such grants; [(C)] (3) the intended use of each grant provided, 112
as described by the community action agency pursuant to subdivision 113 Substitute Bill No. 5040
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(3) of subsection (d) of this section; [(D)] (4) the number of community 114
health workers employed by each community action agency that 115
received a grant at the time such agency received such grant and 116
information regarding the services provided by such community health 117
workers; and [(E)] (5) the number of community health workers 118
employed by each community action agency that received a grant at the 119
conclusion of the program and information regarding the services 120
provided by such community health workers. 121
Sec. 3. Section 37 of public act 21-2 of the June special session is 122
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 123
passage): 124
The sum of $3,000,000 allocated in section 41 of special act 21-15 and 125
section 306 of [this act] public act 21-2 of the June special session, to the 126
Department of Public Health, for Community Health Workers, for each 127
of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2022, and June 30, 2023, shall be for 128
the purposes of the program established pursuant to section 36 of [this 129
act] public act 21-2 of the June special session, as amended by this act. 130
The Department of Public Health shall transfer such funds to the 131
Department of Social Services. 132
Sec. 4. Section 321 of public act 21-2 of the June special session is 133
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 134
passage): 135
The Commissioner of Social Services shall, within the ten million 136
dollars in federal funds allocated to the Department of Social Services 137
pursuant to section 1 of special act 21-1, in accordance with the 138
provisions of Subtitle M of Title IX of the American Rescue Plan Act of 139
2021, P.L. 117-2, as amended from time to time, provide temporary 140
financial relief to nursing home facilities. [Grant allocations shall be 141
made based on the per cent difference between the issued and calculated 142
reimbursement rate. The commissioner, within the available ten million 143
dollars in federal funding allocated to the department for this purpose, 144
shall issue one-time grants subject to a pro rata adjustment based on 145 Substitute Bill No. 5040
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available funding.] 146
Sec. 5. Section 325 of public act 21-2 of the June special session is 147
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 148
passage): 149
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17b-340 of the general 150
statutes, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2022, and June 30, 2023, the 151
Commissioner of Social Services shall, for the purposes of providing 152
pandemic-related support, increase the minimum per diem, per bed rate 153
to five hundred one dollars for a residential facility licensed pursuant to 154
section 17a-227 of the general statutes and certified to participate in the 155
Title XIX Medicaid program as an intermediate care facility for 156
individuals with intellectual disability. 157
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 19a-7d
Sec. 2 from passage PA 21-2 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 36
Sec. 3 from passage PA 21-2 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 37
Sec. 4 from passage PA 21-2 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 321
Sec. 5 from passage PA 21-2 of the June Sp.
Sess., Sec. 325
HS Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable