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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 274
February Session, 2024
AN ACT CONCERNING OPIOIDS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-667 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) There is established a Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Policy 3
Council which shall be within the Department of Mental Health and 4
Addiction Services. 5
(b) The council shall consist of the following members: (1) The 6
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's 7
designee; (2) the Commissioners of Children and Families, Consumer 8
Protection, Correction, Education, Mental Health and Addiction 9
Services, Public Health, Emergency Services and Public Protection, 10
Aging and Disability Services and Social Services, and the Insurance 11
Commissioner, or their designees; (3) the Chief Court Administrator, or 12
the Chief Court Administrator's designee; (4) the chairperson of the 13
Board of Regents for Higher Education, or the chairperson's designee; 14
(5) the president of The University of Connecticut, or the president's 15
designee; (6) the Chief State's Attorney, or the Chief State's Attorney's 16
designee; (7) the Chief Public Defender, or the Chief Public Defender's 17
designee; (8) the Child Advocate, or the Child Advocate's designee; and 18
(9) the cochairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 19 Substitute Bill No. 274
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committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 20
relating to public health, criminal justice and appropriations, or their 21
designees. The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services 22
and the Commissioner of Children and Families shall be cochairpersons 23
of the council and may jointly appoint up to seven individuals to the 24
council as follows: (A) Two individuals in recovery from a substance use 25
disorder or representing an advocacy group for individuals with a 26
substance use disorder; (B) a provider of community-based substance 27
abuse services for adults; (C) a provider of community-based substance 28
abuse services for adolescents; (D) an addiction medicine physician; (E) 29
a family member of an individual in recovery from a substance use 30
disorder; and (F) an emergency medicine physician currently practicing 31
in a Connecticut hospital. The cochairpersons of the council may 32
establish subcommittees and working groups and may appoint 33
individuals other than members of the council to serve as members of 34
the subcommittees or working groups. Such individuals may include, 35
but need not be limited to: (i) Licensed alcohol and drug counselors; (ii) 36
pharmacists; (iii) municipal police chiefs; (iv) emergency medical 37
services personnel; and (v) representatives of organizations that provide 38
education, prevention, intervention, referrals, rehabilitation or support 39
services to individuals with substance use disorder or chemical 40
dependency. 41
(c) The council shall review policies and practices of state agencies 42
and the Judicial Department concerning substance abuse treatment 43
programs, substance abuse prevention services, the referral of persons 44
to such programs and services, and criminal justice sanctions and 45
programs and shall develop and coordinate a state-wide, interagency, 46
integrated plan for such programs and services and criminal sanctions. 47
(d) [Such plan shall be amended] The council shall amend such plan 48
not later than January 1, 2017, to contain measurable goals, including, 49
but not limited to, a goal for a reduction in the number of opioid-50
induced deaths in the state. 51
(e) (1) The council shall create a standing subcommittee to 52 Substitute Bill No. 274
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periodically (A) review (i) publicly funded services for parents and 53
caregivers impacted by substance use disorder and their children, and 54
(ii) state agency programs that support the safety and well-being of such 55
children, and (B) develop, in consultation with representatives of 56
substance abuse treatment programs, family advocates and persons 57
with lived experience with substance use disorders, recommendations 58
to strengthen (i) delivery of substance abuse treatment programs and 59
substance abuse prevention services to families, (ii) safety planning 60
supports for children, and (iii) targeted distribution of naloxone to 61
parents and caregivers of persons with substance use disorder. 62
(2) On or before January 1, 2025, and triennially thereafter, the 63
standing subcommittee shall: 64
(A) Submit such recommendations to the council to consider for 65
inclusion in (i) the integrated plan, pursuant to subsection (d) of this 66
section, and (ii) any recommendations to the Commissioner of Mental 67
Health and Addiction Services when the council consults with the 68
commissioner on the state substance use disorder plan, developed 69
pursuant to subsection (j) of section 17a-451; 70
(B) Submit such recommendations to the Opioid Settlement Advisory 71
Committee, established pursuant to section 17a-674d; and 72
(C) Report on such recommendations, in accordance with the 73
provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the 74
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 75
health, appropriations and the budgets of state agencies and children. 76
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Social Services and 77
the Insurance Commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioners 78
of Public Health and Mental Health and Addiction Services, shall 79
develop a plan to require Medicaid and private insurance coverage for 80
opioid antagonists for patients prescribed an opioid drug upon 81
discharge from a hospital. Not later than January 1, 2025, the 82
commissioners shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 83 Substitute Bill No. 274
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11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committees of the 84
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 85
health, human services, general law and insurance regarding such plan. 86
For the purposes of this section, "opioid antagonist" has the same 87
meaning as provided in section 17a-714a of the general statutes, and 88
"opioid drug" has the same meaning as provided in section 20-14o of the 89
general statutes. 90
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 17a-667
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(e)(1)(B)(iii), "of persons with substance use disorder" was
added for clarity, and in Section 2, "or emergency department" was
deleted to eliminate redundant language.
PH Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO