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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1450
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5654
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF THE
HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Federally qualified health center" has the same meaning as 2
provided in Section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 3
1396d(l)(2)(B), as amended from time to time; 4
(2) "Health care provider" means a health care provider licensed by 5
the Department of Public Health; and 6
(3) "Primary care" means the medical fields of family medicine, 7
general pediatrics, primary care, internal medicine, primary care 8
obstetrics or primary care gynecology, without regard to board 9
certification. 10
(b) The Department of Public Health shall establish, within available 11
appropriations, a health care provider loan reimbursement program. 12
The health care provider loan reimbursement program shall provide 13
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loan reimbursement grants to health care providers who are employed 14
on a full-time basis as health care providers in the state. 15
(c) The Commissioner of Public Health shall (1) develop eligibility 16
requirements for recipients of such loan reimbursement grants, which 17
requirements may include, but need not be limited to, income 18
guidelines, (2) award not less than twenty per cent of such loan 19
reimbursement grants to persons employed full-time as primary care 20
providers, and (3) award at least twenty per cent of such loan 21
reimbursement grants to persons employed full-time as health care 22
providers (A) in a rural community in the state, or (B) by a federally 23
qualified health center in the state. The commissioner shall consider 24
health care workforce shortage areas when developing such eligibility 25
requirements. A person who qualifies for a loan reimbursement grant 26
shall be reimbursed on an annual basis for qualifying student loan 27
payments in amounts determined by the commissioner. A health care 28
provider shall only be reimbursed for loan payments made while such 29
person is employed full-time in the state as a health care provider. Any 30
person may apply for a loan reimbursement grant to the Department of 31
Public Health at such time and in such manner as the commissioner 32
prescribes. 33
(d) The Department of Public Health may (1) accept gifts, grants and 34
donations, from any source, public or private, for the health care 35
provider loan reimbursement program, and (2) adopt regulations, in 36
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to 37
implement the provisions of this section. 38
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) No private or state-administered 39
loan reimbursement program offering loan reimbursement grants to 40
physicians or advanced practice registered nurses employed in the state 41
shall include as part of the eligibility criteria for such program a 42
requirement that a physician or advanced practice registered nurse be 43
employed by a nonprofit employer to receive a loan reimbursement 44
grant under the program. 45
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Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 46
(1) "Nurse's aide" means a nurse's aide registered pursuant to chapter 47
378a of the general statutes; and 48
(2) "Emergency medical technician" means a person who is certified 49
to practice as an emergency medical technician under the provisions of 50
section 20-206ll or 20-206mm of the general statutes. 51
(b) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Department of Public Health, 52
in collaboration with a nonprofit organization providing education, 53
community and home-based services in the state, shall establish a 54
virtual education program to provide home-based virtual education to 55
persons seeking certification as a nurse's aide or emergency medical 56
technician in the state. The virtual education program shall offer courses 57
that satisfy the training and competency evaluation requirements 58
prescribed by the commissioner for (1) registration as a nurse's aide, and 59
(2) certification as an emergency medical technician. The Commissioner 60
of Public Health shall establish eligibility criteria for such program and 61
may solicit and accept private funds to implement such pilot program. 62
(c) Not later than January 1, 2027, the Commissioner of Public Health 63
shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the 64
general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 65
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health, 66
regarding the outcome of such program. 67
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) Each home health agency and 68
hospice agency, as such terms are defined in section 19a-490 of the 69
general statutes, shall ensure that every home that an agency employee 70
visits for the purpose of providing care to a patient of the agency is 71
equipped with a working smoke detector. If an employee of a home 72
health agency or hospice agency reports to the agency that a patient's 73
home does not contain a working smoke detector, the agency shall 74
arrange for the installation of a working smoke detector in the home. 75
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To recruit and retain health care providers in the state.
[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.]