AN ACT EXPANDING THE MEMBERSHIP AND STUDY FOCUS OF THE LONG-TERM CARE PLANNING COMMITTEE.

Senate
sSB495 / File No. 484 1

General Assembly File No. 484
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 495

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 substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT EXPANDING THE MEMBERSHIP AND STUDY FOCUS OF
THE LONG-TERM CARE PLANNING COMMITTEE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 17b-337 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 2
(a) There shall be established a Long-Term Care Planning Committee 3
for the purpose of exchanging information on long -term care issues, 4
coordinating policy development and establishing a long-term care plan 5
for all persons in need of long -term care. Such policy and plan shall 6
provide that individuals with long -term care needs have the option to 7
choose and receive long -term care and support in the least restrictive, 8
appropriate setting. Such plan shall integrate the three components of a 9
long-term care system including home and community -based services, 10
supportive housing arrangements and nursing facilities. Such plan shall 11
include: (1) A vision and mission statement for a long-term care system; 12
(2) the current number of persons receiving services; (3) the current 13
number of persons receiving long-term care supports and services in the 14
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sSB495 / File No. 484 2

community and the number receiving such supports and services in 15
institutions; (4) demographic data concerning such persons by service 16
type; (5) the current aggregate cost of such system of services; (6) 17
forecasts of future demand for services; (7) the type of services available 18
and the amount of funds necessary to meet the demand; (8) projected 19
costs for programs associated with such system; (9) strategies to 20
promote the partnership for long -term care program; (10) resources 21
necessary to accomplish goals for the future; (11) funding sources 22
available; and (12) the number and types of providers needed to deliver 23
services. The plan shall address how changes in one component of such 24
long-term care system impact other components of such system. 25
(b) The Long-Term Care Planning Committee shall, within available 26
appropriations, study issues relative to long -term care including, but 27
not limited to : [, the] (1) State models for financing of long -term care, 28
including, but not limited to, payroll deductions for long -term care, (2) 29
best practices for workforce retention, workforce wages and workforce 30
standards, (3) projected federal support for long-term care and solutions 31
for insufficient federal funding, (4) the case-mix system of Medicaid 32
reimbursement, (5) community-based service options, (6) access to long-33
term care and geriatric psychiatric services , [. The committee shall 34
evaluate issues relative to] (7) long-term care in light of the United States 35
Supreme Court decision, Olmstead v. L.C., 119 S. Ct. 2176 (1999), 36
requiring states to place persons with disabilities in community settings 37
rather than in institutions when such placement is appropriate, the 38
transfer to a less restrictive setting is not opposed by such persons and 39
such placement can be reasonably accommodated , [. The committee, 40
within available appropriations, shall evaluate ] and (8) available data 41
on the average net actual Medicaid expenditures for nursing homes, in 42
comparison to average net actual Medicaid expenditures for home and 43
community-based services waiver participants who require a nursing 44
home level of care . [, including the number of individuals served, to 45
assist in short-term and long-term Medicaid expenditure forecasting.] 46
(c) The Long-Term Care Planning Committee shall consist of: (1) The 47
chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committees of 48
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the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human 49
services, public health [, elderly services and long-term care] and aging; 50
(2) the Commissioner of Social Services, or the commissioner's designee; 51
(3) [one member of the Office of Policy and Management appointed by] 52
the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's 53
designee, who shall serve as a chairperson ; (4) [one member from the 54
Department of Public Health appointed by] the Commissioner of Public 55
Health, or the commissioner's designee ; (5) [one member from the 56
Department of Housing appointed by ] the Commissioner of Housing , 57
or the commissioner's designee; (6) [one member from the Department 58
of Developmental Services appointed by ] the Commissioner of 59
Developmental Services , or the commissioner's designee ; (7) [one 60
member from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services 61
appointed by ] the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction 62
Services, or the commissioner's designee ; (8) [one member from the 63
Department of Transportation appointed by ] the Commissioner of 64
Transportation, or the commissioner's designee ; (9) [one member from 65
the Department of Children and Families appointed by ] the 66
Commissioner of Children and Families , or the commissioner's 67
designee; (10) [one member from ] a representative of the Health 68
Systems Planning Unit of the Office of Health Strategy appointed by the 69
Commissioner of Health Strategy; [and] (11) [one member from the 70
Department of Aging and Disability Services appointed by ] the 71
Commissioner of Aging and Disability Services , [. The committee shall 72
convene no later than ninety days after June 4, 1998 ] or the 73
commissioner's designee; (12) the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, or the 74
ombudsman's designee; (13) a representative of an employee 75
organization representing long -term care workers, appointed by the 76
committee chairpersons; and (14) a representative of an organization 77
representing retirees, appointed by the committee chairpersons . Any 78
vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. [The chairperson 79
shall be elected from among the members of the committee. ] Members 80
shall elect a Senate chairperson and a House chairperson from among 81
the members appointed pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, 82
who shall serve as chairpersons of the committee along with the 83
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Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's 84
designee. The committee shall seek the advice and participation of any 85
person, organization or state or federal agency it deems necessary to 86
carry out the provisions of this section. 87
(d) Not later than January [1, 2018, and annually thereafter ] first 88
annually, the Long -Term Care Planning Committee shall submit a 89
report and recommendations to the joint standing committees of the 90
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging and 91
human services on the [number of persons receiving (1) ] issues the 92
committee studies pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. The report 93
shall include a listing of long-term care supports and services in the 94
community [;] and [(2)] long-term care supports and services in 95
institutions. 96
(e) Not later than January 1, 1999, and every three years thereafter, 97
the Long-Term Care Planning Committee shall submit a long-term care 98
plan pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to the joint standing 99
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 100
relating to human services, public health [, elderly services and long -101
term care] and aging, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, 102
and such plan shall serve as a guide for the actions of state agencies in 103
developing and modifying programs that serve persons in need of long-104
term care. 105
(f) Any state agency, when developing or modifying any program 106
that, in whole or in part, provides assistance or support to persons with 107
long-term care needs, shall, to the maximum extent feasible, include 108
provisions that support care -giving provided by family members and 109
other informal caregivers and promote consumer-directed care. 110
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2026 17b-337

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Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
The title was changed; in Subsec. (b), "issues relative to" was bracketed
for consistency; in Subsec. (c), " cochairperson" and " cochairpersons"
were changed to " chairperson" and " chairpersons" and the sentence
concerning the House and Senate chairpersons was redrafted for
consistency.

HS Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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sSB495 / File No. 484 6

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 $
Policy & Mgmt., Off. GF - Potential
Cost
Potential Potential
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill changes the requirements of the Long -Term Care Planning
Committee (LTCPC) within the Office of Policy and Management
(OPM) to (1) include a study of certain financing models, best practices,
and projected federal support, and (2) remove a requirement to include
certain information in studies related to other long -term care related
topics. This results in a potential cost to OPM beginning in FY 27 to the
extent an additional position is required to complete these studies. The
cost is dependent on the level of analysis conducted.
The bill also makes changes to the membership of the LTCPC which
does not result in a fiscal impact.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.

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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 495

AN ACT EXPANDING THE MEMBERSHIP AND STUDY FOCUS OF
THE LONG-TERM CARE PLANNING COMMITTEE.

SUMMARY
This bill requires the Long-Term Care Planning Committee (LTCPC),
within available appropriations, to study (1) state long-term care
financing models, including payroll deductions for long -term care; (2)
best practices for workforce retention , wages, and standards; and (3)
projected federal support for long -term care and solutions for
insufficient federal funding.
Current law requires the LT CPC to study various other long -term
care related topics, such as available data on average net actual
Medicaid nursing home expenditures compared to those for home- and
community-based Medicaid waiver recipients who require a nursing
home level of care. The bill eliminates the requirement that this study
include the number of people served to help in short - and long-term
Medicaid expenditure forecasting.
The bill also requires the LT CPC, when annually reporting to the
Aging and Human Services committees each January 1, to report on (1)
the issues the committee studied as required by the bill and existing law;
(2) a list of long-term care supports and services in the community and
institutions (for example, nursing homes); and (3) any related
recommendations. Current law requires the committee to report on the
number of people receiving long -term care supports and services in
community and institutional settings.
Current law sets the LTCPC membership , which includes several
state agency representatives and the chairpersons and ranking members
of the Aging, Human Services, and Public Health committees. The bill
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makes minor changes for state agency members by specifying that
agency heads or their designees must serve as committee members.
Current law also allows the members to elect any member as a
chairperson. The bill instead designates the Office of Policy and
Management secretary, or their designee, as a chairperson . It also
requires the mem bers to elect a Senate chairperson and a House
chairperson from among the committee’s legislative members.
Lastly, the bill adds the following three members to the committee’s
membership: (1) the long-term care ombudsman or her designee and (2)
one representative each of a labor organization representing long -term
care workers and an organization representing retirees, both appointed
by the committee chairpersons.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2026
COMMITTEE ACTION
Human Services Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 23 Nay 0 (03/19/2026)