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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7048
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING THE OFFICE OF HEALTH STRATEGY'S
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING REVISIONS TO THE HEALTH
CARE CABINET.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-725 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) There is established within the Office of Health Strategy, 3
established under section 19a-754a, the Health Care Cabinet for the 4
purpose of advising the Governor on the matters set forth in subsection 5
(c) of this section. 6
(b) (1) The Health Care Cabinet shall consist of the following 7
members: [who shall be appointed on or before August 1, 2011:] (A) 8
[Five] Seven appointed by the Governor, two of whom may represent 9
the health care industry and shall serve for terms of four years, one of 10
whom shall represent community health centers and shall serve for a 11
term of three years, one of whom shall represent insurance producers 12
and shall serve for a term of three years, one of whom shall represent a 13
state-wide association of community nonprofits and shall serve for a 14
term of three years and [one] two of whom shall [be an at-large 15
appointment and shall] serve for a term of three years; (B) [one] two 16
appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, [who] one of 17
whom shall be an oral health specialist engaged in active practice and 18 Substitute Bill No. 7048
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shall serve for a term of four years and one of whom shall serve for a 19
term of four years; (C) one appointed by the majority leader of the 20
Senate, who shall represent labor and shall serve for a term of three 21
years; (D) one appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall 22
be an advanced practice registered nurse engaged in active practice and 23
shall serve for a term of two years; (E) [one] two appointed by the 24
speaker of the House of Representatives, [who] one of whom shall be a 25
consumer advocate and shall serve for a term of four years and one of 26
whom shall serve for a term of four years; (F) one appointed by the 27
majority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be a primary 28
care physician engaged in active practice and shall serve for a term of 29
four years; (G) one appointed by the minority leader of the House of 30
Representatives, who shall represent the health information technology 31
industry and shall serve for a term of three years; (H) [five appointed 32
jointly by the chairpersons of the SustiNet Health Partnership board of 33
directors, one of whom shall represent faith communities, one of whom 34
shall represent small businesses, one of whom shall represent the home 35
health care industry, one of whom shall represent hospitals, and one of 36
whom shall be an at-large appointment, all of whom shall serve for 37
terms of five years] two appointed by the Commissioner of Health 38
Strategy, who shall serve for a term of four years; (I) the Commissioner 39
of Health Strategy, or the commissioner's designee; (J) the Secretary of 40
the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee; the 41
Comptroller, or the Comptroller's designee; the chief executive officer 42
of the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange, or said officer's 43
designee; the Commissioners of Social Services and Public Health, or 44
their designees; [and] the Healthcare Advocate, or the Healthcare 45
Advocate's designee and the Behavioral Health Advocate, or the 46
Behavioral Health Advocate's designee, all of whom shall serve as ex-47
officio voting members; and (K) the Commissioners of Children and 48
Families, Developmental Services and Mental Health and Addiction 49
Services, and the Insurance Commissioner, or their designees, [and the 50
nonprofit liaison to the Governor, or the nonprofit liaison's designee,] 51
all of whom shall serve as ex-officio nonvoting members. 52 Substitute Bill No. 7048
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(2) Following the expiration of initial cabinet member terms, 53
subsequent cabinet terms shall be for four years, commencing on 54
August first of the year of the appointment. If an appointing authority 55
fails to make an initial appointment to the cabinet or an appointment to 56
fill a cabinet vacancy within ninety days of the date of such vacancy, the 57
appointed cabinet members shall, by majority vote, make such 58
appointment to the cabinet. 59
[(3) Upon the expiration of the initial terms of the five cabinet 60
members appointed by SustiNet Health Partnership board of directors, 61
five successor cabinet members shall be appointed as follows: (A) One 62
appointed by the Governor; (B) one appointed by the president pro 63
tempore of the Senate; (C) one appointed by the speaker of the House of 64
Representatives; and (D) two appointed by majority vote of the 65
appointed board members. Successor board members appointed 66
pursuant to this subdivision shall be at-large appointments.] 67
[(4)] (3) The Commissioner of Health Strategy, or the commissioner's 68
designee, shall serve as the chairperson of the Health Care Cabinet. 69
(c) The Health Care Cabinet shall advise the Governor regarding the 70
development of an integrated health care system for Connecticut and 71
shall: 72
(1) Evaluate the means of ensuring an adequate health care workforce 73
in the state; 74
[(2) Jointly evaluate, with the chief executive officer of the 75
Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange, the feasibility of implementing 76
a basic health program option as set forth in Section 1331 of the 77
Affordable Care Act;] 78
[(3)] (2) Identify short and long-range opportunities, issues and gaps 79
created by the enactment of federal health care reform; 80
[(4)] (3) Review the effectiveness of delivery system reforms and 81
other efforts to control health care costs, including, but not limited to, 82 Substitute Bill No. 7048
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reforms and efforts implemented by state agencies; and 83
[(5)] (4) Advise the Governor on matters relating to: (A) The design, 84
implementation, actionable objectives and evaluation of state and 85
federal health care policies, priorities and objectives relating to the 86
state's efforts to improve access to health care, (B) the quality of such 87
care and the affordability and sustainability of the state's health care 88
system, and (C) total state-wide health care spending, including 89
methods to collect, analyze and report health care spending data. 90
(d) The Health Care Cabinet may convene working groups, which 91
include volunteer health care experts, to make recommendations 92
concerning the development and implementation of service delivery 93
and health care provider payment reforms, including multipayer 94
initiatives, medical homes, electronic health records and evidenced-95
based health care quality improvement. 96
(e) The Office of Health Strategy shall provide support staff to the 97
Health Care Cabinet. 98
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 19a-725
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsec. (b)(1), a colon was inserted after "members" and "who shall
be appointed on or before August 1, 2011:" was bracketed for
consistency with standard drafting conventions, as the previous date
for prior appointments has passed.
PH Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO