Connecticut 2023 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB06818 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	LCO No. 4844 1 of 5
4	4
5	5	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6818
6	6	January Session, 2023
7	7	LCO No. 4844
8	8
9	9
10	10	Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
11	11
12	12
13	13	Introduced by:
14	14	(PH)
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17	17
18	18	AN ACT CONCERNING PATIENT ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE
19	19	HEALTH CARE.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
21	21	Assembly convened:
22	22
23	23	Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) As used in this section and 1
24	24	sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act: 2
25	25	(1) "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription drugs 3
26	26	(A) used separately or in combination to prevent pregnancy, (B) 4
27	27	administered to or self-administered by a patient within a medically 5
28	28	recommended amount of time after sexual intercourse, (C) dispensed 6
29	29	for such purpose in accordance with professional standards of practice, 7
30	30	and (D) determined by the United States Food and Drug Administration 8
31	31	to be safe for such purpose; 9
32	32	(2) "Health care entity" means an entity that supervises, controls, 10
33	33	grants privileges to, directs the practice of or directly or indirectly 11
34	34	restricts the practice of a health care provider; 12
35	35	(3) "Health care provider" means a health care provider licensed, 13
36	36	certified or registered pursuant to title 20 of the general statutes who is 14
37	37	employed by or acting on behalf of a health care entity; 15 Raised Bill No. 6818
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39	39
40	40
41	41	LCO No. 4844 2 of 5
42	42
43	43	(4) "Medically accurate" means information that is verified or 16
44	44	supported by research in compliance with scientific methods, published 17
45	45	in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and recognized as 18
46	46	accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with 19
47	47	expertise in the relevant field; 20
48	48	(5) "Medical device" means an instrument, apparatus, implement, 21
49	49	machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent or other similar or 22
50	50	related article, including any component, part or accessory, that is 23
51	51	recognized in the official National Formulary or the United States 24
52	52	Pharmacopeia, or any supplement thereto, and prescribed or ordered by 25
53	53	a prescribing practitioner, as defined in section 20-571 of the general 26
54	54	statutes; 27
55	55	(6) "Pharmacist" means a pharmacist licensed pursuant to chapter 28
56	56	400j of the general statutes; and 29
57	57	(7) "Prescription drug" means a drug prescribed by a prescribing 30
58	58	practitioner, as defined in section 20-571 of the general statutes, 31
59	59	including, but not limited to, self -administered hormonal 32
60	60	contraceptives and emergency contraception. 33
61	61	Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) If a health care provider is 34
62	62	acting in good faith, within the provider's scope of practice, education, 35
63	63	training and experience, including the provider's specialty areas of 36
64	64	practice and board certification, and within the accepted standard of 37
65	65	care, a health care entity may not limit the health care provider's 38
66	66	provision of the following: 39
67	67	(1) Medically accurate information and counseling to a patient 40
68	68	regarding the patient's health status, including, but not limited to, 41
69	69	diagnosis, prognosis, recommended treatment, treatment alternatives 42
70	70	and any potential risks to the patient's health or life; and 43
71	71	(2) Information about available and relevant services and resources 44
72	72	in the community and how to access such services and resources to 45
73	73	obtain health care of the patient's choosing. 46 Raised Bill No. 6818
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77	77	LCO No. 4844 3 of 5
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79	79	(b) A health care entity may not discharge, demote, suspend, 47
80	80	discipline or otherwise discriminate against a health care provider for 48
81	81	providing information as described in subsection (a) of this section. 49
82	82	Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) Except as provided in 50
83	83	subsection (b) of this section, if a health care provider is acting in good 51
84	84	faith, within the provider's scope of practice, education, training and 52
85	85	experience and within the accepted standard of care, a health care entity 53
86	86	may not prohibit the health care provider from providing any health 54
87	87	care service related to complications of pregnancy, including, but not 55
88	88	limited to, health services related to miscarriage management and 56
89	89	treatment for ectopic pregnancies, if the failure to provide such service 57
90	90	would violate the accepted standard of care or in cases in which there is 58
91	91	a serious risk to a patient's life or health. 59
92	92	(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section prohibits a health care 60
93	93	entity from limiting a health care provider's practice for purposes of the 61
94	94	following: 62
95	95	(1) Complying with preferred provider network or utilization review 63
96	96	requirements of any program or entity authorized by state or federal 64
97	97	law to provide insurance coverage for health care services to an enrollee; 65
98	98	or 66
99	99	(2) Ensuring quality control and patient safety, including when 67
100	100	quality control or patient safety issues are identified pursuant to peer 68
101	101	review. 69
102	102	(c) A health care entity may not discharge, demote, suspend, 70
103	103	discipline or otherwise discriminate against a health care provider for 71
104	104	providing a health care service pursuant to the provisions of this section. 72
105	105	Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) A pharmacist shall not 73
106	106	obstruct a patient in obtaining a prescription drug or medical device that 74
107	107	has been legally prescribed or ordered for such patient. A violation of 75
108	108	this section constitutes unprofessional conduct by a pharmacist and 76
109	109	shall subject the pharmacist to disciplinary or administrative action by 77 Raised Bill No. 6818
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111	111
112	112
113	113	LCO No. 4844 4 of 5
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115	115	the Commission of Pharmacy pursuant to section 5 of this act. 78
116	116	(b) Notwithstanding any provision of title 19a or 20 of the general 79
117	117	statutes, a pharmacist shall dispense a prescription drug or medical 80
118	118	device pursuant to a lawful prescription or order unless one of the 81
119	119	following circumstances exists: 82
120	120	(1) Based solely on the pharmacist's professional training and 83
121	121	judgment, dispensing pursuant to the prescription or order is contrary 84
122	122	to law or the drug or device would cause a harmful drug interaction or 85
123	123	would otherwise adversely affect the patient's medical condition; 86
124	124	(2) The drug or device is not in stock, provided if a prescription or an 87
125	125	order cannot be dispensed because the drug or device is not in stock, the 88
126	126	pharmacist shall take one of the following actions: 89
127	127	(A) Immediately notify the patient and arrange for the drug or device 90
128	128	to be delivered to the site where the pharmacist is located or directly to 91
129	129	the patient in a timely manner; 92
130	130	(B) Promptly transfer the prescription or order to another pharmacy 93
131	131	known to stock the drug or device that is near enough to the site from 94
132	132	which the prescription or order is transferred to ensure the patient has 95
133	133	timely access to the drug or device; or 96
134	134	(C) Return the prescription or order to the patient and refer the 97
135	135	patient to another pharmacy, provided the pharmacist makes a 98
136	136	reasonable effort to refer the patient to a pharmacy that stocks the drug 99
137	137	or device that is near enough to the referring site to ensure that the 100
138	138	patient has timely access to the drug or device; or 101
139	139	(3) The pharmacist refuses on ethical, moral or religious grounds to 102
140	140	dispense a drug or device pursuant to a prescription or an order, 103
141	141	provided (A) the pharmacist previously notified the pharmacist's 104
142	142	employer, in writing, of the drug or device that the pharmacist objects 105
143	143	to dispensing, and (B) the pharmacist's employer has protocols in place 106
144	144	that ensure that the patient has timely access to the drug or device 107 Raised Bill No. 6818
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146	146
147	147
148	148	LCO No. 4844 5 of 5
149	149
150	150	despite the pharmacist's refusal to dispense the drug or device. 108
151	151	(c) Nothing in this section imposes any duty on a pharmacist to 109
152	152	dispense a prescription drug or medical device pursuant to a 110
153	153	prescription or an order without payment for the drug or device, 111
154	154	including payment directly by the patient or through a third-party 112
155	155	payer accepted by the pharmacist or payment of any required 113
156	156	copayment by the patient. 114
157	157	Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) If a pharmacist violates any 115
158	158	provision of sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act, the Commission of 116
159	159	Pharmacy appointed under the provisions of section 20-572 of the 117
160	160	general statutes may (1) refuse to authorize the renewal of a license to 118
161	161	practice pharmacy, (2) revoke, suspend or place conditions on a license 119
162	162	to practice pharmacy, (3) assess a civil penalty of up to one thousand 120
163	163	dollars per violation, and (4) take other action permitted in subdivision 121
164	164	(7) of section 21a-7 of the general statutes. 122
165	165	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
166	166	sections:
167	167
168	168	Section 1 July 1, 2023 New section
169	169	Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 New section
170	170	Sec. 3 July 1, 2023 New section
171	171	Sec. 4 July 1, 2023 New section
172	172	Sec. 5 July 1, 2023 New section
173	173
174	174	Statement of Purpose:
175	175	To protect patient access to reproductive health care.
176	176	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
177	177	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
178	178	underlined.]
179	179