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On June 27, 2023, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 23-171 entitled “An Act Protecting Patients and Prohibiting Unnecessary Health Care Costs” (“the Act”), which includes changes to Connecticut’s facility fees law. The Act implements previously-announced legislative initiatives that are the product of collaboration between Governor Lamont and the Connecticut Hospital Association, as well as other health care stakeholders.Continue Reading Connecticut Governor Signs Health Care Bill Revising Connecticut’s Facility Fee Law

On June 7, 2023, the Connecticut Legislature passed HB6669, “An Act Protecting Patients and Prohibiting Unnecessary Health Care Costs” (“the Act”), which includes a prohibition on certain contractual clauses in agreements between health care providers and insurance companies. The Act implements previously-announced legislative initiatives that are the product of collaboration between Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and the Connecticut Hospital Association, as well as other health care stakeholders. Governor Lamont is expected to sign the Act but has not done so as of this publication.Continue Reading Connecticut Health Care Bill Revises Provider-Payor Contracting Requirements to Address Competitive Concerns

On June 2, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced a pair of antitrust enforcement actions to block pending health system transactions that, according to it, would harm competition in the provision of inpatient general acute care hospital services.Continue Reading FTC Takes Action to Block Hospital Transactions in Utah and New Jersey

As we have previously written on, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently signed into law the state’s budget as Public Act 22-118 (Act), which makes various changes to the Connecticut statutes. Among the changes, the Act expands the authority of Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy (OHS).Continue Reading Connecticut Expands OHS Authority

On March 14, 2021, Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 10C (EO 10C), which extends provisions of Public Act 20-2 (PA 20-2), a law passed by the Connecticut legislature in July 2020 that “provided additional flexibility for the delivery of telehealth services and insurance coverage of these services” but was scheduled to expire March 15, 2021. As a result of EO 10C, the provisions of PA 20-2 that were scheduled to expire on March 15 will remain in effect through April 20, 2021, in part to give the state legislature more time to “address the ongoing need for” expanded access to telehealth services.
Continue Reading Connecticut Extends Expansion of Access to Telehealth Services

On July 14, 2020 Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7HHH, in which the Governor modified state law to enable the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health (DPH) to temporarily suspend licensure, registration and certification requirements for certain DPH-regulated practitioners for the duration of the state public health and civil preparedness emergency.  Notably, in that Executive Order, the Governor stated that “healthcare providers from outside Connecticut have greatly enhanced the provision of healthcare services in Connecticut during the COVID-19 pandemic and thereby fundamentally improved the state’s ability to protect public health at critical time.”
Continue Reading Connecticut Authorizes Out-of-State Health Care Practitioners to Render Assistance for Remainder of COVID-19 Pandemic

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently issued four new executive orders to address the COVID-19 state of emergency (Executive Orders 7CC – 7FF) that contain provisions relevant to health care providers and facilities in the state.  Among other things, the Executive Orders (i) expand access to telehealth services, (ii) expand the available health care workforce, (iii) increase current reporting requirements for long-term care facilities, (iv) allow the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services (DSS) to scale back certain Medicaid program requirements, and (v) update requirements related to out-of-network emergency billing.  A summary of particularly significant changes contained in those Orders follows.
Continue Reading Connecticut Governor Expands Health Care Workforce, Access to Telehealth Services and Issues Other Important Health Care Updates in New Executive Orders

On April 11, 2020 the U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) issued guidance in the form of frequently asked questions (the “FAQs”) regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the FFCRA), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act), and other health coverage issues related to COVID-19.  The guidance states that the FAQs “answer questions from stakeholders to help individuals understand the law and benefit from it, as intended.” Certain guidance offered by the FAQs is summarized below; however, these are non-inclusive and stakeholders would be well advised to review the updated FAQs document in full.
Continue Reading Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Issue FAQ guidance on the FFCRA, the CARES Act, and other health coverage issues related to COVID-19

Governor Lamont issued two new executive orders designed to expand the health care workforce, immunize providers from COVID-19-related liability, and protect patients from out-of-network bills for COVID-19 treatment. On April 5, 2020 Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 7U creating financial protections for uninsured patients and insured patients receiving out-of-network care. On April 7, 2020 Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 7V expanding temporary practice permits, allowing practice before licensure for certain health care profession graduates and applicants, and limiting civil liability for health care professionals and facilities for acts and omissions related to the State’s COVID-19 response.
Continue Reading Connecticut Governor Limits COVID-19 Liability for Providers and Facilities, Restricts Surprise Billing for COVID-19 Treatment, and Expands the Health Care Workforce in Recent Executive Orders.

Massachusetts government agencies have issued recent guidance and updates concerning the COVID-19 emergency. A summary is provided below.

Allowing Health Care Personnel with Potential Exposure to COVID-19 to Continue to Work

On March 19, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued the following Guidance for Health Care Personnel with Potential Exposure to Patients with COVID-19…