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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1394
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5430
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROVISION OF HEALTH CARE
SERVICES TO INMATES IN CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Department of Public 1
Health, in collaboration with the Department of Correction, shall 2
annually evaluate the health care services provided to inmates in 3
correctional institutions in the state to assess, from a public health and a 4
corrections perspective, whether best practices utilized in the provision 5
of health care services at health care facilities are being utilized in the 6
provision of such services at correctional facilities. Not later than 7
January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Public 8
Health shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 9
of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 10
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health on such 11
evaluation. 12
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) Not later than January 1, 2026, the 13
Correction Ombuds appointed pursuant to section 18-81jj of the general 14
statutes shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 15
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of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 16
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health 17
regarding the provision of health care services to inmates of correctional 18
facilities, including, but not limited to, the number of personnel needed 19
in correctional facilities to (1) provide an appropriate level of health care 20
to inmates, and (2) inform inmates and their family members and 21
representatives regarding the (A) provision of health care services in 22
correctional facilities, and (B) method by which such family members 23
and representatives may inquire of a correctional facility about the 24
inmate's health or health care services received by the inmate. 25
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to 26
study barriers in the recruitment and retention of health care personnel 27
within the Department of Correction. 28
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 29
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 30
one of whom is a representative of a collective bargaining unit that 31
represents health care personnel within the Department of Correction; 32
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 33
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 34
Representatives; 35
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 36
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 37
Representatives; 38
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 39
(7) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing 40
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 41
relating to public health, or the chairpersons' and ranking members' 42
designees; 43
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(8) The Commissioners of Correction, Public Health and 44
Administrative Services, or the commissioners' designees; 45
(9) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 46
secretary's designee; and 47
(10) A representative of a collective bargaining unit representing 48
health care personnel within the Department of Correction, who shall 49
be appointed by the Governor. 50
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 51
(2), (3), (4), (5), (6) or (7) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 52
of the General Assembly. 53
(d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 54
than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 55
be filled by the appointing authority. 56
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 57
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 58
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 59
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 60
days after the effective date of this section. 61
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 62
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 63
health shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 64
(g) Not later than January 1, 2026, the task force shall submit a report 65
on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 66
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 67
health, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 68
statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such 69
report or January 1, 2026, whichever is later. 70
Sec. 4. (Effective from passage) Not later than January 1, 2026, the 71
Commissioner of Correction shall report, in accordance with the 72
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provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 73
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 74
relating to public health regarding the policies of the Department of 75
Correction concerning (1) the provision of health care services to 76
inmates of correctional facilities, (2) communication with health care 77
providers outside of the department regarding an inmate's medical 78
history while in a correctional facility, including, but not limited to, 79
obtaining and disclosing an inmate's medical records when appropriate, 80
and (3) a primary care provider's ability to obtain a former inmate's 81
medical history and medical records from the department after an 82
inmate's discharge from a correctional facility. 83
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require evaluations of and reports concerning the provision of health
care services to inmates in correctional facilities.
[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.]