Connecticut SB 498: AN ACT CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR TARDY PAYCHECKS FOR PERSONAL CARE ATTENDANTS AND EXPANDING PUBLIC ACCESS TO STATE PROGRAMS.

Bill Text

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General Assembly  
Substitute Bill No. 498  
February Session, 2026 
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR TARDY PAYCHECKS FOR 
PERSONAL CARE ATTENDANTS AND EXPANDING PUBLIC ACCESS 
TO STATE PROGRAMS.  
Be  it enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section and 1 
sections  2  to  5,  inclusive,  of  this  act,  (1)  "self-directed  home  care 2 
programs" means Medicaid-funded programs that allow a consumer to 3 
hire  a  personal  care  attendant,  (2)  "consumer"  and  "personal  care 4 
attendant"  have  the  same  meanings  as  provided  in  section  17b-706  of 5 
the  general  statutes,  (3)  "department"  means  the  Department  of  Social 6 
Services, (4) "electronic visit verification system" means the system used 7 
to record visits to a consumer by a personal care attendant, and (5) "fiscal 8 
intermediary"    means    the    organization    that    contracts    with    the 9 
department  to  provide  payroll,  taxes  and  administrative  services  for 10 
self-directed home care programs. 11 
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall post quarterly reports 12 
concerning  the  fiscal  intermediary's  performance  of  contractual  duties 13 
for self-directed home care programs on the department's Internet web 14 
site and file such reports, in accordance  with the provisions of section 15 
11-4a of the general statutes, with the joint standing committees of the 16 
General  Assembly  having  cognizance  of  matters  relating  to  human 17 
services and labor. Except for public records exempted from disclosure 18 
under section 1-210 of the general statutes, the reports shall contain the 19 

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following information, commencing   with   information   from   the 20 
quarterly period beginning on April 1, 2024: 21 
(1)  The  most  recent  completed  audited  financial  statements  of  the 22 
fiscal intermediary; 23 
(2) All personal care attendant timesheet reports, including, but not 24 
limited  to,  reports  containing  the  (A)  number  of  weekly  consumer-25 
approved  timesheets  submitted,  (B)  number  submitted  on  time,  (C) 26 
number  resubmitted  after  correction,  (D)  number  paid  on  time,  (E) 27 
timesheet processing error rate, (F) payroll processing error rate, and (G) 28 
number and amount of penalties levied, on a monthly and weekly basis, 29 
against  the  fiscal  intermediary  for  violating  provisions  of  the  contract 30 
concerning timesheets; 31 
(3) All budget reports, customer service telephone call center reports 32 
and service level agreement reports; 33 
(4)  The  number  of  and  average  response  time  to  general  customer 34 
service  requests  and the  amount  and  number  of  penalties  levied, on  a 35 
monthly and weekly basis, against the fiscal intermediary for violations 36 
of the contract concerning response time for customer service requests; 37 
and 38 
(5) The (A) number of telephone calls, voice mail messages, electronic 39 
mail messages and  telephonic  text  messages  received by  the  fiscal 40 
intermediary from consumers and personal care attendants, (B) number 41 
of instances in which such calls or messages were responded to by the 42 
fiscal  intermediary in  the  contractually  required  time  period  and the 43 
means  of  response  by  the  fiscal  intermediary,  and  (C)  number  and 44 
amount of penalties levied against the fiscal intermediary, on a monthly 45 
and  weekly  basis,  for  violations  of the  provisions of  the  contract 46 
concerning   response   time   to   inquiries   from   such   consumers   and 47 
personal care attendants. 48 
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) The Secretary of the Office of Policy 49 
and  Management,  in  consultation  with  the  Commissioner  of  Social 50 

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Services,  shall  conduct  a  cost-benefit  analysis  on  (1)  transferring  fiscal 51 
intermediary duties for self-directed home care programs from a private 52 
contractor  to  the  state,  and  (2)  authorizing  access  by  personal  care 53 
attendants  not  eligible  for  medical  assistance  established  pursuant  to 54 
Title  XIX  or  Title  XXI  of  the  Social  Security  Act  or  the  Covered 55 
Connecticut  program  established  pursuant  to  section  19a-754c  of  the 56 
general statutes to a health insurance program subsidized by the state. 57 
(b)  The  cost-benefit  analysis  shall  document  the  direct  and  indirect 58 
costs,   savings,   and   qualitative   and   quantitative   benefits   of   state-59 
administered   management   of   duties   performed   by   a   privately 60 
contracted fiscal intermediary, including, but not limited to: 61 
(1) The costs of timesheet processing errors by a privately contracted 62 
fiscal intermediary to consumers, personal care attendants a