OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6987
AN ACT CONCERNING CLOSURES AND EVACUATIONS OF
RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES AND NURSING HOMES.
Primary Analyst: NB 3/24/25
Contributing Analyst(s):
Reviewer: JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $
Public Health, Dept. GF - Cost 171,900 105,800
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 34,800 43,100
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill, which addresses various issues related to nursing homes and
residential care homes (RCH), results in a cost to the Department of
Public Health (DPH) of $171,900 in FY 26 and $105,800 in FY 27 (and
annually thereafter), and an estimated cost to the Office of State
Comptroller for associated fringe benefits of $34,800 in FY 26 and
$43,100 in FY 27 (and annually thereafter).
Sections 1 and 2, which require nursing homes and residential care
homes (RCH) to consider a resident's proximity to family members and
other known support networks when assisting with a transfer or
discharge, does not result in a state fiscal impact.
Section 3, which establishes a working group to examine RCH
evacuation procedures and participation in a mutual aid digital
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 40.71% of payroll in FY 26. 2025HB-06987-R000237-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
platform, does not result in a fiscal impact to the state. Workload
adjustments can be managed within the current staffing levels of the
specified state agencies.
Section 4 requires nursing homes and RCHs to maintain insurance
coverage for the loss or damage of a resident's personal property in the
result of an evacuation or closure. This results in no fiscal impact to the
state.
Section 5 requires DPH to develop and maintain a database that
tracks real-time bed availability in nursing homes and RCHs to facilitate
resident placements. An existing DPH data submission platform can be
adapted to support this requirement through one-time contracted IT
consultant services, resulting in an $86,400 cost in FY 26.
2
It is
anticipated that DPH will begin its systems development work in
September 2025
3
to meet the bill's operation deadline of January 1, 2026.
Further costs to DPH reflect the need for two new part-time (0.5 FTE)
positions, at an annualized salary cost of $105,800: (1) an IT Analyst 3 to
maintain the system, at a part-time annual salary of $64,800; and (2) a
Health Program Associate in the Facility Licensing and Investigations
Section to monitor facility reporting, at a part-time annual salary of
$41,000. Annualized fringe benefits costs for these positions are $26,400,
and $16,700 respectively.
4
Section 6 modifies criteria mandating nursing homes to disregard
their waiting lists to admit an applicant, which has no state fiscal impact.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
2
IT consultant services estimate assumes a necessary 40 hours a week at $90 per hour
for 24 weeks.
3
FY 26 salary costs reflect 21 pay periods rather than a full fiscal year.
4
Expected FY 26 total salary costs are projected to be approximately $85,500 with
$34,800 in associated fringe benefits.