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Senate approves comprehensive aging bill expanding dementia planning, biomarker coverage and transfer protections
Summary
House Bill 6771 creates an Alzheimer’s and dementia task force, requires criminal-history checks for long-term-care employees, mandates in-network coverage for certain biomarker testing, adds tuition waivers for nursing-home residents taking online courses, and strengthens discharge-notification rules; the Senate passed the bill unanimously.
The Connecticut Senate took up and passed House Bill 6771 on May 21, a nine-section measure addressing long-term care, Alzheimer’s and dementia planning, insurance coverage for biomarker testing, and protections for residents of nursing and residential-care homes.
Senator Hockadell, who presented the bill, said it requires criminal-history and patient-abuse background checks for prospective employees at long-term care facilities (without changing volunteer rules); it establishes a 15-member Alzheimer’s and dementia task force to develop a state plan and report by 01/01/2027; it directs insurers to cover in-network biomarker testing when supported by medical and scientific evidence; it allows nursing-home residents to receive tuition waivers for online programs at regional community colleges (space permitting); and it strengthens notification and placement protections for residents displaced by closures.
Supporters including Senator Wong stressed unanimous committee support and the bill’s comprehensive approach to aging issues; an immediate roll-call vote was ordered and the Clerk reported unanimous passage. Implementation will require agency action and task-force convening under the statute’s timelines.
