New Connecticut Law Improves Seniors’ Access to Home-Based Care

By Hugh McQuaid

November 4 @ 7:00 am

Connecticut is establishing a new presumptive Medicaid eligibility program for home-based care under a law adopted during the 2024 legislative session, which included several policies aimed at improving access to services for seniors who chose to age at home.

The new statute was one of several bills to advance this year out of the state legislature’s Aging Committee. By presuming that home-based services will be covered by Medicaid, the law was designed to spare seniors the choice between residing in a nursing home or forgoing care while awaiting a Medicaid approval process that can take up to 90 days.

In a press release, Sen. Jan Hochadel, a Meriden Democrat who co-chairs the legislative panel, said the policy aimed to make aging in place easier for Connecticut seniors.

“As more and more of our seniors choose to age in their homes, we must adopt policies that preserve their safety and dignity,” Hochadel said. “This bill takes steps to ensure our elders can spend their later years at home, surrounded by their families and loved ones.”

AARP Connecticut praised the new policy as it made its way through the legislative process earlier this year. In written testimony submitted to the Aging Committee, Anna Doroghazi, the group’s associate state director, said that nursing homes were an important part of Connecticut’s long-term care continuum — but not necessarily an option that suited all seniors.

“[A]n overwhelming majority of older adults express a strong preference for receiving care in home and community-based settings instead of in nursing homes,” she said. “Presumptive eligibility is a way to give someone who needs long-term care immediate access to Medicaid-funded home and community-based services to keep them from being placed in a nursing home.”

The bill, which was proposed by House Speaker Matt Ritter and enjoyed broad support in both legislative chambers, included several other reforms designed to improve seniors’ access to quality care.

For instance, the new law will create a database of home-based workers, allowing consumers to identify and match qualified home aides based on characteristics like language, certifications or special skills, as well as previous experience. This also helps the providers and their agencies by giving them access to recruitment, retention, and training programs.

Other provisions will connect residents with a consumer dashboard, which uses a five-star rating system to compare nursing home facilities on metrics like their quality of care, their staff and health inspection results.

The statute also calls for new training requirements and photo ID badges for Personal Care Attendants and other home health care workers, and an expansion of fingerprinting locations for employment background checks.

Meanwhile, the law expands the duties of local senior center staff members to better assist elderly residents with accessing housing opportunities.