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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1450
January Session, 2025
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
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 Substitute Bill No. 1450
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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 not less than 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 adopt regulations, in 34
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to 35
implement the provisions of this section. 36
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) On and after October 1, 2026, no 37
state-administered loan reimbursement program offering loan 38
reimbursement grants to physicians, physician assistants or advanced 39
practice registered nurses employed in the state shall include as part of 40
the eligibility criteria for such program a requirement that a physician, 41
physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse be employed 42
by a nonprofit employer to receive a loan reimbursement grant under 43
the program. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a 44
nonprofit employer from offering loan reimbursement grants to its 45
employees and requiring employment as a condition of receiving such 46
grants. 47
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 48 Substitute Bill No. 1450
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(1) "Nurse's aide" means a nurse's aide registered pursuant to chapter 49
378a of the general statutes; and 50
(2) "Emergency medical technician" means a person who is certified 51
to practice as an emergency medical technician under the provisions of 52
section 20-206ll or 20-206mm of the general statutes. 53
(b) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Department of Public Health, 54
in collaboration with a nonprofit organization providing education, 55
community and home-based services in the state, shall establish a 56
virtual education pilot program to provide home-based virtual 57
education to persons seeking certification as a nurse's aide or emergency 58
medical technician in the state. Such virtual education program shall 59
offer courses that satisfy the training and competency evaluation 60
requirements prescribed by the commissioner for (1) registration as a 61
nurse's aide, and (2) certification as an emergency medical technician. 62
The Commissioner of Public Health shall establish eligibility criteria for 63
such program and may solicit and accept private funds to implement 64
such pilot program. 65
(c) Not later than January 1, 2027, the Commissioner of Public Health 66
shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the 67
general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 68
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health, 69
regarding the outcome of such program. 70
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to eliminate the 71
requirements for nurse's aides and emergency medical technicians to 72
receive in-person, supervised practical training pursuant to 42 CFR 73
483.152, section 19-13-D8t(l)(1)(A) of the regulations of Connecticut state 74
agencies and subsection (d) of section 20-206mm of the general statutes, 75
respectively. 76
Sec. 4. Section 10-21q of the general statutes is repealed and the 77
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 78
(a) The Commissioner of Education shall, in collaboration with the 79 Substitute Bill No. 1450
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Chief Workforce Officer, utilize the plan required of the Office of 80
Workforce Strategy pursuant to section 2 of special act 22-9 in (1) the 81
promotion of the health care professions as career options to students in 82
middle and high school, including, but not limited to, through career 83
day presentations regarding health care career opportunities in the 84
state, the development of partnerships with health care career education 85
programs in the state and the creation of counseling programs directed 86
to high school students to inform such students about, and recruit them 87
to, the health care professions, and (2) job shadowing and internship 88
experiences in health care fields for high school students. 89
(b) Not later than September 1, 2023, the Commissioner of Education 90
shall provide each local and regional board of education with the plan 91
described in subsection (a) of this section, and through the Governor's 92
Workforce Council Education Committee, support implementation of 93
such plan. 94
(c) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Commissioner of Education 95
shall amend the plan described in subsection (a) of this section to 96
include the specific promotion of the professions of radiologic 97
technology, nuclear medicine technology and respiratory care through 98
(1) career day presentations regarding career opportunities in such 99
health care professions, partnerships with education programs in 100
radiologic technology, nuclear medicine technology and respiratory 101
care in the state and the creation of counseling programs directed to 102
high school students to inform such students about, and recruit them to, 103
such health care professions, and (2) job shadowing and internship 104
experiences in such health care professions for high school students. 105
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) Not later than January 1, 2026, 106
the Commissioner of Public Health shall establish, within available 107
appropriations, a grant program to recruit athletic trainers to work in 108
rural and underserved areas of the state. The grant program shall 109
provide a grant, in an amount determined by the commissioner, to each 110
athletic trainer who (1) relocates to the state, (2) obtains licensure as an 111
athletic trainer from the Department of Public Health, and (3) practices 112 Substitute Bill No. 1450
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as an athletic trainer in a rural and underserved area of the state, for the 113
costs associated with relocating to the state. 114
(b) The commissioner shall (1) prescribe forms and criteria for an 115
athletic trainer to apply and qualify for grant funds under the grant 116
program, and (2) require each athletic trainer who receives a grant to 117
report to the commissioner on the use of the funds for the costs 118
associated with relocating to the state. 119
(c) Not later than January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 120
commissioner shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 121
11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the 122
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 123
health regarding the impact of the grant program on recruiting athletic 124
trainers to work in rural and underserved areas of the state. 125
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 from passage 10-21q
Sec. 5 July 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(3)(c), "at least" was changed to "not less than" for
consistency. In Section 3(b), "virtual education program" was changed
to "virtual education pilot program", for internal consistency. In Section
(3)(d), "42 CFR 438.152" was changed to "42 483.152" for accuracy.
PH Joint Favorable Subst.