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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6912
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4246
Referred to Committee on AGING
Introduced by:
(AGE)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND DEMENTIA
ADVISORY COUNCIL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) There is established, 1
within the Department of Aging and Disability Services, an Alzheimer's 2
Disease and Dementia Advisory Council. The advisory council shall: 3
(1) Examine (A) the needs of persons living with Alzheimer's disease 4
or dementia in the state, (B) the services available to such persons and 5
their family caregivers, and (C) the ability of health care providers and 6
institutions to meet the needs of such persons; and 7
(2) Develop a State Alzheimer's Plan, which shall make findings and 8
recommendations regarding: 9
(A) State residents living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia and 10
their service needs, including, but not limited to, (i) the state's role in 11
providing or facilitating long-term care, family caregiver support and 12
assistance to persons with early-stage and early-onset Alzheimer's 13
disease or dementia, (ii) state policies regarding persons living with 14
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Alzheimer's disease or dementia, and (iii) the fiscal impact of 15
Alzheimer's disease and dementia on publicly funded health care 16
programs; 17
(B) Existing resources, services and capacity relating to the diagnosis 18
and care of persons living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, 19
including, but not limited to, (i) the type, cost and availability of 20
dementia care services, (ii) the availability of health care providers who 21
can provide Alzheimer's disease or dementia-related services, 22
including, but not limited to, neurologists, geriatricians and direct care 23
workers, (iii) dementia-specific training requirements for public and 24
private employees who interact with persons living with Alzheimer's 25
disease or dementia, including, but not limited to, long-term care 26
providers, case managers, adult protective services employees and law 27
enforcement personnel and other first responders, (iv) home and 28
community-based services, including, but not limited to, respite care 29
services, (v) quality care measures for home and community-based 30
services and residential care facilities, and (vi) state-supported 31
Alzheimer's disease and dementia research conducted at higher 32
education institutions located in the state; and 33
(C) Policies and strategies that (i) increase public awareness of 34
Alzheimer's disease and dementia, (ii) educate health care providers to 35
increase early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and 36
dementia, (iii) improve health care services for persons living with 37
Alzheimer's disease or dementia, (iv) evaluate the capacity of the health 38
care system in meeting the growing number and needs of persons living 39
with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, (v) increase the number of health 40
care providers available to treat the growing aging population and 41
populations living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, (vi) improve 42
services provided in the home and community to delay and decrease 43
the need for institutionalized care for persons living with Alzheimer's 44
disease or dementia, (vii) improve long-term care services, including, 45
but not limited to, assisted living services for persons living with 46
Alzheimer's disease or dementia, (viii) assist unpaid Alzheimer's 47
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disease and dementia caregivers, (ix) increase and improve research on 48
Alzheimer's disease and dementia, (x) promote activities to maintain 49
and improve brain health, (xi) improve data and information collection 50
relating to Alzheimer's disease and dementia and the public health 51
burdens associated with such diseases, (xii) improve public safety and 52
address the safety-related needs of persons living with Alzheimer's 53
disease or dementia, (xiii) address legal protections for, and legal issues 54
faced by, persons living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, and (xiv) 55
improve methods through which the state evaluates and adopts policies 56
to assist persons living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. 57
(b) The advisory council shall consist of the following members: 58
(1) Ten members appointed by the Governor, (A) one of whom shall 59
be a person living with early stage or early onset Alzheimer's disease or 60
dementia, (B) one of whom shall be a family caregiver of a person living 61
with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, (C) one of whom shall represent 62
a municipality that provides services to senior citizens, (D) one of whom 63
shall represent home health care agencies, (E) two of whom shall be 64
health care providers with experience diagnosing and treating 65
Alzheimer's disease, (F) one of whom shall represent a national 66
organization that advocates on behalf of persons living with 67
Alzheimer's disease or dementia, (G) one of whom shall represent the 68
area agencies on aging, established pursuant to section 17a-850 of the 69
general statutes, (H) one of whom shall represent long-term care 70
facilities, and (I) one of whom shall have expertise in aging policy issues; 71
(2) The Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services, or the 72
commissioner's designee; 73
(3) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's 74
designee; 75
(4) The Commissioner of Social Services, or the commissioner's 76
designee; and 77
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(5) The State Ombudsman, or the State Ombudsman's designee. 78
(c) All initial appointments to the advisory council shall be made not 79
later than January 1, 2026. Advisory council members first appointed 80
pursuant to subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of subdivision (1) of 81
subsection (b) of this section shall serve for a term of two years. 82
Advisory council members first appointed pursuant to subparagraphs 83
(E) to (I), inclusive, of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section 84
shall serve for a term of three years. Any subsequent advisory council 85
member appointed pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this 86
section shall serve for a term of two years, or until such member's 87
successor is appointed. If the Governor determines that no suitable 88
successor candidate exists to appoint to the advisory council, the 89
Governor may reappoint an existing advisory council member for one 90
two-year term. 91
(d) The Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services, or the 92
commissioner's designee, shall convene the first meeting of the advisory 93
council not later than thirty days after all advisory council members are 94
appointed. At such meeting, the members of the advisory council shall 95
select a chairperson and vice chairperson from among the members of 96
the advisory council. The chairperson and vice chairperson may serve 97
in such roles not more than two consecutive years. The advisory council 98
shall meet not less than once every calendar quarter. 99
(e) The Department of Aging and Disability Services' dementia 100
services coordinator shall serve as administrative staff to the advisory 101
council. 102
(f) Not later than January 1, 2027, the advisory council shall submit a 103
report on the State Alzheimer's Plan to the Governor and, in accordance 104
with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, the joint 105
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 106
matters relating to aging, public health and human services regarding 107
the State Alzheimer's Plan. Such report shall include recommendations 108
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for the implementation of the State Alzheimer's Plan and identify any 109
barriers to the implementation of such plan. The advisory council shall 110
update the State Alzheimer's plan every four years. 111
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish an Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Advisory Council.
[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.]