AN ACT CONCERNING LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT OF MEDICAID WAIVERS, MEDICAID STATE PLAN AMENDMENTS AND OTHER FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS.

Senate
SB482 / File No. 482 1

General Assembly File No. 482
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 482

Senate, April 7, 2026

The Committee on Human Services reported through SEN.
LESSER of the 9th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the
part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT OF MEDICAID
WAIVERS, MEDICAID STATE PLAN AMENDMENTS AND OTHER
FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 17b -8 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 2
(a) The Commissioner of Social Services shall submit an application 3
for a federal waiver or renewal of such waiver of any assistance program 4
requirements, except such application pertaining to routine operational 5
issues, and any proposed amendment to the Medicaid state plan to 6
make a change in program requirements that would have required a 7
waiver were it not for the passage of the Patient Protection and 8
Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111 -148, and the Health Care and Education 9
Reconciliation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-152 to the joint standing committees 10
of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 11
human services and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, 12
and, for the waiver application required under section 17b-312, the joint 13
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standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 14
matters relating to insurance, prior to the submission of such application 15
or proposed amendment to the federal government. Not later than thirty 16
days after the date of their receipt of such application or proposed 17
amendment, the joint standing committees shall: (1) Hold a public 18
hearing on the waiver application, or (2) in the case of a proposed 19
amendment to the Medicaid state plan, notify the Commissioner of 20
Social Services whether or not said joint standing committees intend to 21
hold a public hearing. Any notice to the commissioner indicating that 22
the joint standing committees intend to hold a public hearing on a 23
proposed amendment to the Medicaid state plan shall state the date on 24
which the joint standing committees intend to hold such public hearing, 25
which shall not be later than sixty days after the joint standing 26
committees' receipt of the proposed amendment. At the conclusion of a 27
public hearing held in accordance with the provisions of this section, the 28
joint standing committees shall advise the commissioner of their 29
approval, denial or modifications, if any, of the commissioner's waiver 30
application or proposed amendment. If the joint standing committees 31
advise the commissioner of their denial of the commissioner's waiver 32
application or proposed amendment, the commissioner shall not submit 33
the application for a federal waiver or proposed amendment to the 34
federal government. If such committees do not concur, the committee 35
chairpersons shall appoint a committee of conference which shall be 36
composed of three members from each joint standing committee. At 37
least one member appointed from each joint standing committee shall 38
be a member of the minority party. The report of the committee of 39
conference shall be made to each joint standing committee, which shall 40
vote to accept or reject the report. The report of the committee of 41
conference may not be amended. If a joint standing committee rejects 42
the report of the committee of conference, that joint standing committee 43
shall notify the commissioner of the rejection and the commissioner's 44
waiver application or proposed amendment shall be deemed approved. 45
If the joint standing committees accept the report, the committee having 46
cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state 47
agencies shall advise the commissioner of their approval, denial or 48
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modifications, if any, of the commissioner's waiver application or 49
proposed amendment. If the joint standing committees do not so advise 50
the commissioner during the thirty -day period, the waiver application 51
or proposed amendment shall be deemed approved. Any application 52
for a federal waiver, waiver renewal or proposed amendment submitted 53
to the federal government by the commissioner, pursuant to this section, 54
shall be in accordance with the approval or modifications, if any, of the 55
joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance 56
of matters relating to human services and appropriations and the 57
budgets of state agencies, and, for the waiver application required under 58
section 17b-312, the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 59
having cognizance of matters relating to insurance. 60
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall annually, not later than 61
December fifteenth, notify the joint standing committee of the General 62
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and 63
the budgets of state agencies and the joint standing committee of the 64
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human 65
services of potential Medicaid waivers and amendments to the 66
Medicaid state plan that may result in a cost savings for the state. The 67
commissioner shall notify the committees of the possibility of any 68
Medicaid waiver application or proposed amendment to the Medicaid 69
state plan that the commissioner is considering in developing a budget 70
for the next fiscal year or any other application subject to the provisions 71
of subsection (e) of this section before the commissioner submits such 72
budget for legislative approval. 73
(c) Thirty days prior to submission of an application for a waiver from 74
federal law, renewal of such waiver or proposed amendment to the joint 75
standing committees of the General Assembly under subsection (a) of 76
this section, the Commissioner of Social Services shall publish a notice 77
that the commissioner intends to seek such a waiver or waiver renewal, 78
or submit a proposed amendment to the federal government in the 79
Connecticut Law Journal and on the Department of Social Services' 80
Internet web site, along with a summary of the provisions of the waiver 81
application or the proposed amendment and the manner in which 82
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individuals may submit comments. The commissioner shall allow thirty 83
days for written comments on the waiver application or proposed 84
amendment prior to submission of the application for a waiver, waiver 85
renewal or proposed amendment to the General Assembly under 86
subsection (a) of this section and shall include all written comments with 87
the waiver, waiver renewal application or proposed amendment in the 88
submission to the General Assembly. 89
(d) The commissioner shall include with any waiver application or 90
proposed amendment submitted to the federal government pursuant to 91
this section: (1) Any written comments received pursuant to subsection 92
(c) of this section; and (2) any additional written comments submitted 93
to the joint standing committees at such proceedings. The joint standing 94
committees shall transmit any such materials to the commissioner for 95
inclusion with any such waiver application or proposed amendment. 96
(e) Except for federal block grant applications subject to the 97
provisions of section 4-28b, in addition to applications submitted to the 98
federal government for Medicaid waivers and Medicaid state plan 99
amendments, the Commissioner of Social Services shall submit any 100
application for or related to federal funding for programs administered 101
by the commissioner to the joint standing committees of the General 102
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and 103
the budgets of state agencies and human services not later than thirty 104
days before submission to the federal government. Said committees 105
may hold a hearing and schedule a vote on such application in 106
accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. 107
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2026 17b-8

HS Joint Favorable

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Social Services, Dept. Various See Below See Below
Note: Various=General Fund and Federal Funds

Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to submit
any federal funding applications for DSS-administered programs to the
Appropriations and Human Services committees at least 30 days before
submitting them to the federal government , excluding federal block
grant applications and the Community Services Block Grant.
To the extent this delays or modifies funding that DSS would have
otherwise received, the state could experience a fiscal impact that cannot
be determined at this time.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to certain federal grant opportunities
and related committee actions.

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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 482

AN ACT CONCERNING LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT OF MEDICAID
WAIVERS, MEDICAID STATE PLAN AMENDMENTS AND OTHER
FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS.

SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to submit
any federal funding applications for DSS-administered programs to the
Appropriations and Human Services committees at least 30 days before
submitting them to the federal government. The bill allows the
committees to hold a hearing and schedule a vote using the same
processes in existing law for Medicaid waiver s and certain Medicaid
state plan amendments (SPAs) (see BACKGROUND).
The bill excludes from this requirement federal block grant
applications that are already subject to a legislative review process
under existing law (for example, for the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or the Community Services Block Gr ant
(CSBG)).
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2026
BACKGROUND
Legislative Approval Process for Waivers and SPAs
State law requires the DSS commissioner to submit federal waiver
applications, renewals , and amendments and certain SPAs to the
Appropriations and Human Services committees before submitting
them to the federal government for approval. The committees must
review waivers through this process, and they may decide whether t o
review SPAs.
Within 30 days after receiving DSS’ application, the committees must
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(1) hold a public hearing for waivers or (2) notify DSS about whether
they intend to hold a public hearing for SPAs. If the committees decide
to hold a public hearing on a SPA, they must do so within 60 days after
receiving the application.
After any hearing, the committees must approve, deny, or modify a
waiver or SPA application in this timeframe or it is deemed approved.
The law sets a process to appoint a conference committee if the
committees do not agree on the decision.
By law, the committees’ decision is binding. Any application DSS
submits to the federal government must be in accordance with the
committee’s modifications, if any, or approval. If the committees deny
an application, the law prohibits DSS from submitting i t to the federal
government.
Related Bill
SB 3, § 17, favorably reported by the Human Services Committee,
establishes a legislative approval process for DSS proposals to change
the Medicaid payment model from fee-for-service to managed care.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Human Services Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 16 Nay 7 (03/19/2026)