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Senate passes broad health-insurance and patient-protection bill after hours of debate
Summary
The Connecticut Senate passed Senate Bill 10 as amended, expanding mental-health parity enforcement, narrowing and extending step-therapy exceptions, strengthening rate-review tools, protecting anesthesia coverage and restoring an enforcement provision for facility fees. The roll-call vote was 31–5.
The Connecticut Senate on May 21 passed Senate Bill 10 as amended, a sprawling health-insurance package leaders described as a compromise intended to strengthen mental-health parity, limit certain step-therapy practices and give the insurance commissioner new affordability tools.
Senator Jorge Cabrera, the Senate Insurance and Real Estate Committee chair, summarized the amendment as adding enforceable penalties and transparency to the 2019 parity law and creating narrower, targeted step-therapy exceptions. "This bill attempts to really address some of the issues that many of our constituents and many folks throughout the state of Connecticut and the country have dealt with," Cabrera said on the floor.
Why it matters: Senate Bill 10 aims to force clearer compliance by carriers with mental-health parity rules by making certain compliance data public and authorizing fines for violations (the amendment sets an annual aggregate cap discussed on the floor). Supporters said the move addresses gaps found since the 2019 law by enabling regulators and consumers to identify noncompliant carriers.
Step therapy and clinical carve-outs: The amendment preserves and narrows several step-therapy exemptions. For physical conditions it explicitly covers stage-4 metastatic cancer and adds multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis; for behavioral-health conditions it makes permanent protections for schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Supporters argued the changes reduce the harm caused when patients must "fail first" on less effective therapies.
Anesthesia and facility-fee provisions: The bill bars insurers from imposing arbitrary limits on general anesthesia coverage during surgery, a response to earlier insurer proposals to cap anesthesia time. It also restores a procedural enforcement provision (a CUPTA-related claim) inadvertently removed in a prior session.
Debate and dissent: The bill produced a lengthy floor colloquy in which senators praised its mental-health parity and step-therapy reforms but warned of unintended consequences. "I don't like step therapy at all," said Senator Jeff Gordon, arguing the bill still represents a meaningful advance for patients. Others, including Senator Harding, voiced concern that regulatory changes could reduce competition among carriers and raise costs in the long run.
Vote and next steps: The Senate ordered an immediate roll-call vote and approved the bill 31–5 (total voting 36; yay 31; nay 5). The bill now goes to the House for concurrence or further action as required.
Implementation and reporting: The bill includes reporting requirements and timelines for tasking regulators to monitor compliance; sponsors said some provisions require future rule-making or agency guidance before enforcement begins.
The Senate adjourned after completing the day's business.
