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On July 7, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 21-129 entitled “An Act Concerning Hospital Billing and Collection Efforts By Hospitals And Collection Agencies” (“the Act”). The Act expands the types of entities to which billing and collection restrictions apply, places further limitations on collection efforts by such entities, and makes several changes to Connecticut’s existing laws concerning facility fees.…
Continue Reading Connecticut Governor Signs Bill Limiting Hospital Billing and Collection Efforts and Revising Connecticut’s Facility Fee Laws

On June 16, and then on July 6, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law a pair of bills that together address privacy and cybersecurity in the state. As cybersecurity risks continue to pose a significant threat to businesses and the integrity of private information, Connecticut joins other states in revisiting its data breach reporting laws to strengthen reporting requirements, and offer protection to businesses that have been the subject of a breach despite implementing cybersecurity safeguards from certain damages in resulting litigation.

Public Act 21-59 “An Act Concerning Data Privacy Breaches” (PA 21-59) modifies Connecticut law addressing data privacy breaches to expand the types of information that are protected in the event of a breach, to shorten the timeframe for reporting a breach, to clarify applicability of the law to anyone who owns, licenses, or maintains computerized data that includes “personal information,” and to create an exception for entities that report breaches in accordance with HIPAA. Public Act 21-119 “An Act Incentivizing the Adoption of Cybersecurity Standards for Businesses” (PA 21-119) correspondingly establishes statutory protection from punitive damages in a tort action alleging that inadequate cybersecurity controls resulted in a data breach against an entity covered by the law if the entity maintained a written cybersecurity program conforming to industry standards (as set forth in PA 21-119).

Both laws take effect October 1, 2021. …
Continue Reading Connecticut Enacts Legislation to Incentivize Adoption of Cybersecurity Safeguards and Expand Breach Reporting Obligations

On May 10, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law “An Act Concerning Telehealth” (the “Act”). The Act extends, until June 30, 2023, many of the COVID-19 related telehealth expansions issued by Governor Lamont through executive orders. A press release from the Governor’s Office expressed the Act’s purpose to extend the duration…

Multiple public acts from Connecticut’s 2019 legislative session go into effect on October 1, 2019. Below is a list of public health legislation effective October 1, with links to our previous posts summarizing the acts:

  • Public Act No. 19-89 “An Act Concerning Nursing Home Staffing Levels” (previous post available here).
  • Public Act No. 19-98

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On July 15, 2019, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo signed into law “An Act Relating To Businesses and Professions – Physician Assistants” (H5572/S0443), which significantly revises the supervision requirements and expands certain aspects of the scope of practice for physician assistants (PAs) in Rhode Island, effective immediately. Among other things, the Act removes the current supervision requirements for PAs, changes the nature of the relationship between PAs and physicians to a “collaborative” arrangement, and removes the requirement that hospitals and other health care practices have written PA supervision agreements on file for PAs.…
Continue Reading Rhode Island Removes Supervision Requirements for PAs in Favor of Expanded “Collaboration” Standard for PA Practice

On October 1, 2018, a number of new laws affecting health care entities in Connecticut became effective. Below please find a brief description of some of the newly-effective provisions, as well as links to our analyses of the changes.…
Continue Reading Laws Affecting Health Care Entities in Connecticut Take Effect October 1, 2018

On June 4, 2018, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law Public Act No. 18-90 “An Act Concerning Security Freezes on Credit Reports, Identity Theft Prevention Services and Regulations of Credit Rating Agencies” (P.A. 18-90).  This bill makes several revisions to Connecticut laws concerning identity theft, most notably by newly prohibiting credit reporting agencies from charging fees for consumers to place or remove security freezes. This law takes effect on October 1, 2018.…
Continue Reading Connecticut Expands Consumer Protections Against Identity Theft and Data Breaches

On June 14, 2018, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law Public Act No. 18-166 “An Act Concerning the Prevention and Treatment of Opioid Dependency and Opioid Overdoses in the State” (PA 18-166).

This legislation seeks to address the ongoing opioid crisis in Connecticut in part by: (i) implementing a new opioid overdose reporting requirement for hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, (ii) establishing a statutory framework under which health care practitioners and pharmacists may partner with law enforcement or other government agencies, EMS providers, or community health organizations to expand distribution and availability of naloxone and similar drugs, (iii) enacting statutory limitations on the circumstances in which providers may prescribe controlled substances for family members or themselves, and (iv) commissioning a study of the feasibility of opioid intervention courts. This legislation has varying effective dates, which are noted below.…
Continue Reading Connecticut Legislature Again Addresses Opioid Crisis