Connecticut 2025 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB06979 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2	2
3		-	LCO 1 of 4
	3	+	LCO No. 4665 1 of 5
4	4
5		-	General Assembly ~~Substitute~~ Bill No. 6979
	5	+	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6979
6	6		January Session, 2025
	7	+	LCO No. 4665
	8	+
	9	+
	10	+	Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
	11	+
	12	+
	13	+	Introduced by:
	14	+	(PH)
	15	+
7	16
8	17
9	18
10	19		AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH'S
11	20		RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT.
12	21		Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
13	22		Assembly convened:
14	23
15	24		Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 19a-88 of the general statutes is 1
16	25		repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
17	26		1, 2025): 3
18	27		(b) Each person holding a license to practice medicine, surgery, 4
19	28		podiatry, chiropractic or naturopathy shall, annually, during the month 5
20	29		of such person's birth, register with the Department of Public Health, 6
21	30		upon payment of the professional services fee for class I, as defined in 7
22	31		section 33-182l, plus five dollars. Each person holding a license to 8
23	32		practice medicine or surgery shall pay five dollars in addition to such 9
24	33		professional services fee. Such registration shall be on blanks to be 10
25	34		furnished by the department for such purpose, giving such person's 11
26	35		name in full, such person's residence and business address and such 12
27	36		other information as the department requests. On and after January 1, 13
28	37		2026, each person holding a license to practice medicine who has retired 14
29	38		from the profession may renew such license. The fee for such license 15
	39	+	Raised Bill No. 6979
	40	+
	41	+
	42	+
	43	+	LCO No. 4665 2 of 5
	44	+
30	45		renewal shall be ten per cent of the professional services fee for class I, 16
31	46		as determined in accordance with section 33-182l, or ninety-five dollars, 17
32	47		whichever is greater. Any such license provided by the department at a 18
33	48		reduced fee pursuant to this subsection shall indicate that the 19
34		-	practitioner is retired. 20 Substitute Bill No. 6979
35		-
36		-
37		-	LCO 2 of 4
38		-
	49	+	practitioner is retired. 20
39	50		Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) For the purposes of subsection 21
40		-	(b) of section 19a-88 of the general statutes, ~~as amended by this act, the~~ 22
41		-	~~Commissioner of Public~~ Health shall, not later than January 1, 2026, 23
42		-	~~adopt regulations, in~~ accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 24
43		-	~~general statutes.~~ Such regulations shall include, but need not be limited 25
44		-	~~to, (1) a definition~~ of "retired from the profession" as that term applies 26
45		-	~~to physicians, (2)~~ procedures for licensed physicians, who have retired 27
46		-	~~from the~~ profession, to return to active employment, and (3) appropriate 28
	51	+	(b) of section 19a-88 of the general statutes, the Commissioner of Public 22
	52	+	Health shall, not later than January 1, 2026, adopt regulations, in 23
	53	+	accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes. 24
	54	+	Such regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) a definition 25
	55	+	of "retired from the profession" as that term applies to physicians, (2) 26
	56	+	procedures for licensed physicians, who have retired from the 27
	57	+	profession, to return to active employment, and (3) appropriate 28
47	58		restrictions upon the scope of practice for such physicians who are 29
48	59		retired from the profession, including restricting the license of such 30
49	60		physicians to the provision of volunteer services without monetary 31
50	61		compensation. 32
51	62		Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) Any person licensed pursuant 33
52	63		to section 20-13 of the general statutes, who is retired from the 34
53	64		profession and whose license has become void pursuant to section 19a-35
54		-	88 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, may apply for 36
55		-	reinstatement of such license pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-37
56		-	14 of the general statutes. The Commissioner of Public Health shall 38
57		-	adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 39
58		-	general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section. Such 40
59		-	regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) a definition of 41
60		-	"retired from the profession" as that term applies to physicians, and (2) 42
61		-	(A) eligibility requirements consistent with the provisions of 43
62		-	subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of section 19a-14 of the general statutes, 44
63		-	and (B) application procedures relating to license reinstatement. The 45
64		-	commissioner may impose any conditions or restrictions upon the scope 46
65		-	of practice of a physician whose license is reinstated pursuant to the 47
66		-	provisions of this subdivision, including, but not limited to, conditions 48
67		-	or restrictions relating to the provision of volunteer services without 49
68		-	monetary compensation. 50
	65	+	88 of the general statutes, may apply for reinstatement of such license 36
	66	+	pursuant to the provisions of 19a-14 of the general statutes. The 37
	67	+	Commissioner of Public Health shall adopt regulations, in accordance 38
	68	+	with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement 39
	69	+	the provisions of this section. Such regulations shall include, but need 40
	70	+	not be limited to, (1) a definition of "retired from the profession" as that 41
	71	+	term applies to physicians, and (2) (A) eligibility requirements 42
	72	+	consistent with the provisions of subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of 43
	73	+	section 19a-14 of the general statutes, and (B) application procedures 44
	74	+	relating to license reinstatement. The commissioner may impose any 45
	75	+	conditions or restrictions upon the scope of a practice of a physician 46
	76	+	whose license is reinstated pursuant to the provisions of this 47
	77	+	subdivision, including, but not limited to, conditions or restrictions 48
	78	+	Raised Bill No. 6979
	79	+
	80	+
	81	+
	82	+	LCO No. 4665 3 of 5
	83	+
	84	+	relating to the provision of volunteer services without monetary 49
	85	+	compensation. 50
69	86		Sec. 4. Subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of section 20-11b of the general 51
70	87		statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 52
71		-	(Effective October 1, 2025): 53 Substitute Bill No. 6979
72		-
73		-
74		-	LCO 3 of 4
75		-
	88	+	(Effective October 1, 2025): 53
76	89		(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, each person 54
77	90		licensed to practice medicine and surgery under the provisions of 55
78	91		section 20-13 who provides direct patient care services shall maintain 56
79	92		professional liability insurance or other indemnity against liability for 57
80	93		professional malpractice. The amount of insurance which each such 58
81	94		person shall carry as insurance or indemnity against claims for injury or 59
82	95		death for professional malpractice shall not be less than five hundred 60
83	96		thousand dollars for one person, per occurrence, with an aggregate of 61
84	97		not less than one million five hundred thousand dollars. 62
85	98		(b) Each insurance company which issues professional liability 63
86	99		insurance, as defined in subdivisions (1), (6), (7), (8) and (9) of subsection 64
87	100		(b) of section 38a-393, shall on and after January 1, 1995, render to the 65
88	101		Commissioner of Public Health a true record of the names and 66
89	102		addresses, according to classification, of cancellations of and refusals to 67
90	103		renew professional liability insurance policies and the reasons for such 68
91	104		cancellation or refusal to renew said policies for the year ending on the 69
92	105		thirty-first day of December next preceding. 70
93	106		(c) A person subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section 71
94	107		shall be deemed in compliance with such subsection when providing 72
95	108		primary health care or behavioral health care services at a clinic licensed 73
96	109		by the Department of Public Health that is recognized as tax exempt 74
97	110		pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or 75
98	111		any successor internal revenue code, as may be amended from time to 76
99	112		time, provided: (1) Such person is not compensated for such services; (2) 77
100	113		the clinic does not charge patients for such services; (3) the clinic 78
101	114		maintains professional liability insurance coverage in the amounts 79
	115	+	Raised Bill No. 6979
	116	+
	117	+
	118	+
	119	+	LCO No. 4665 4 of 5
	120	+
102	121		required by subsection (a) of this section for each aggregated forty hours 80
103	122		of service or fraction thereof for such persons; (4) the clinic carries 81
104	123		additional appropriate professional liability coverage on behalf of the 82
105	124		clinic and its employees in the amounts of five hundred thousand 83
106	125		dollars per occurrence, with an aggregate of not less than one million 84
107	126		five hundred thousand dollars; and (5) the clinic maintains total 85
108	127		professional liability coverage of not less than one million dollars per 86
109		-	occurrence with an annual aggregate of not less than three million 87 Substitute Bill No. 6979
110		-
111		-
112		-	LCO 4 of 4
113		-
	128	+	occurrence with an annual aggregate of not less than three million 87
114	129		dollars. Such person shall be subject to the provisions of subsection (a) 88
115	130		of this section when providing direct patient care services in any setting 89
116	131		other than such clinic. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 90
117	132		relieve the clinic from any insurance requirements otherwise required 91
118	133		by law. 92
119	134		Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Public 93
120	135		Health shall establish, within available appropriations, a student loan 94
121	136		repayment program for health care providers who provide primary care 95
122	137		and behavioral health services in the state. For the purposes of this 96
123	138		section, "primary care" means the medical fields of family medicine, 97
124	139		general pediatrics, primary care, internal medicine, primary care 98
125	140		obstetrics or primary care gynecology, without regard to board 99
126	141		certification. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance 100
127	142		with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement 101
128	143		the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, establishing 102
129	144		eligibility criteria and obligations of program participants. 103
130	145		This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
131	146		sections:
132	147
133	148		Section 1 October 1, 2025 19a-88(b)
134	149		Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 New section
135	150		Sec. 3 October 1, 2025 New section
136	151		Sec. 4 October 1, 2025 20-11b(a) to (c)
137	152		Sec. 5 from passage New section
138	153
139		-	Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
140		-	In Sections 2 and 3, "as amended by this act" was inserted after "section
141		-	19a-88 of the general statutes" for clarity; in Section 3, "section" was
142		-	inserted before "19a-14" for consistency with standard drafting
143		-	conventions, and "scope of a practice" was changed to "scope of practice"
144		-	for statutory consistency.
	154	+	Raised Bill No. 6979
145	155
146		-	PH Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
	156	+
	157	+
	158	+	LCO No. 4665 5 of 5
	159	+
	160	+	Statement of Purpose:
	161	+	To (1) allow retired physicians to provide free primary and behavioral
	162	+	health care at nonprofit clinics, and (2) require the Commissioner of
	163	+	Public Health to establish a student loan repayment program for health
	164	+	care providers who provide primary care and behavioral health services
	165	+	in the state.
	166	+
	167	+	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
	168	+	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
	169	+	underlined.]
147	170