AN ACT CONCERNING STATE CONTRACTING FOR STATE EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE AND OTHER RELATED SERVICES.

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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5345
February Session, 2026 LCO No. 2151

Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS

Introduced by:
(GAE)

AN ACT CONCERNING STATE CONTRACTING FOR STATE
EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE AND OTHER
RELATED SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 5-259a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 2
(a) As used in this section: 3
(1) "Third -party administrator" means any person who directly or 4
indirectly underwrites, collects premiums or charges from, or adjusts or 5
settles claims on, residents of this state in connection with health 6
coverage offered or provided by the Comptroller pursuant to the state 7
employee plan, as provided in section 5-259; 8
(2) "Provider" has the same meaning as provided in section 19a-508c; 9
and 10
(3) "Affiliated provider" has the same meaning as provided in section 11
19a-508c. 12

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(b) Employee health and life insurance shall be subject to a 13
competitive selection process. The process shall be in accordance with 14
the provisions of the collectively bargained pension agreement 15
approved by the General Assembly on June 30, 1982. 16
(c) Any third-party administrator, including, but not limited to, any 17
insurer, health carrier or health benefits administrator, selected in 18
accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, that 19
enters into a contract or other agreement with the state to provide health 20
insurance under a group hospitalization and medical and surgical 21
insurance plan procured by the Comptroller pursuant to section 5 -259, 22
or any health insurance claim processing services or administrative 23
services pursuant to such contract or agreement, shall: 24
(1) Provide at least three written notices to the Comptroller, the 25
Health Care Cost Containment Committee, as defined in section 3 -26
123rrr, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House 27
of Representatives and the minority leaders of the Senate and House of 28
Representatives, at not less than ninety days, sixty days and thirty days 29
prior to the expiration or termination of any participating provider 30
agreement between such third-party administrator and (A) any hospital 31
licensed pursuant to chapter 368v, (B) any health care practice of 32
affiliated providers, or (C) a parent corporation of such hospital or 33
health care practice of affiliated providers. Such notices shall include the 34
anticipated date of the applicable agreement expiration or termination 35
and the date of expiration of the applicable sixty -day notice period 36
required under subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of 37
section 38a-472f; and 38
(2) Immediately notify the Comptroller, the Health Care Cost 39
Containment Committee and the legislative leaders listed in subdivision 40
(1) of this subsection of (A) any new, extended or amended participating 41
provider agreement entered into between the third-party administrator 42
and an entity listed in subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of subdivision (1) of 43
this subsection, or (B) the expiration of the applicable notice period 44

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required under subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of 45
section 38a-472f which results in the hospital or health care practice of 46
affiliated providers no longer being a participating provider in the third-47
party administrator's provider network. 48
(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the 49
Comptroller shall, not later than sixty days after the receipt of notice of 50
expiration of any notice period pursuant to section 38a -472f, as 51
described in subsection (c) of this section, commence a competitive 52
process for the selection of a third -party administrator of health 53
insurance, health insurance claim processing services or administrative 54
services in accordance with subsection (b) of this section and any third-55
party administrator that submitted a notice of termination as described 56
in subsection (c) of this section shall be prohibited from participating in 57
any such competitive selection process for a period of up to five years 58
from the date of the Comptroller's receipt of the termination notice 59
under subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of this section, except the 60
Comptroller may reduce the time period of such prohibition. 61
(e) If the parties to the participating provider agreement that expired 62
or was terminated as described in subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of 63
this section agree to enter into a new, amended or extended 64
participating provider agreement not later than thirty days after the 65
Comptroller's receipt of the termination notice under said subdivision, 66
the Comptroller may suspend or cease the competitive selection process 67
commenced under subsection (d) of this section. 68
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2026 5-259a

Statement of Purpose:
To require additional notices to the Comptroller, the legislative leaders
and Health Care Cost Containment Committee concerning the potential
termination of participating provider agreements in the employee

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health insurance plan and to prohibit certain entities that terminate
participating provider agreements from participating in future
competitive selection processes for a period of time.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]