Text of CT HB 6913 (2025)

LCO No. 4357 1 of 6 General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6913 January Session, 2025 LCO No. 4357 Referred to Committee on AGING Introduced by: (AGE) AN ACT CONCERNING LGBTQ+ DISCRIMINATION IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: 1 (1) "Gender identity or expression" has the same meaning as 2 provided in section 1-1n of the general statutes; 3 (2) "Long-term care facility" or "facility" means a nursing home 4 facility, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, or a 5 managed residential community, as defined in section 19a-693 of the 6 general statutes, with assisted living services regulated by the 7 Department of Public Health; 8 (3) "Long-term care facility staff" or "facility staff" means all persons 9 employed by or contracted directly with a long-term care facility; and 10 (4) "Resident" means a resident or patient of a long-term care facility. 11 (b) (1) It shall be unlawful for a long-term care facility or long-term 12 care facility staff to discriminate against any resident on the basis of such 13 Raised Bill No. 6913 LCO No. 4357 2 of 6 resident's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or 14 expression or human immunodeficiency virus status, including, but not 15 limited to, by: 16 (A) Denying admission to a long-term care facility, transferring or 17 refusing to transfer a resident within a facility or to another facility or 18 discharging or evicting a resident from a facility; 19 (B) Denying a request by residents to share a room; 20 (C) In a facility where rooms are assigned by gender, assigning, 21 reassigning or refusing to assign a room to a transgender resident other 22 than in accordance with the transgender resident's gender identity, 23 unless at the transgender resident's request; 24 (D) Prohibiting a resident from using, or harassing a resident who 25 seeks to use or does use, a restroom available to other persons of the 26 same gender identity, regardless of whether the resident has taken or is 27 taking hormones, has had transition-related surgery or is making a 28 gender transition or appears to be gender-nonconforming. For the 29 purposes of this subdivision, "harassing" includes, but is not limited to, 30 requiring a resident to show identity documents in order to gain 31 entrance to a restroom available to other persons of the same gender 32 identity; 33 (E) Wilfully and repeatedly failing to use a resident's preferred name 34 or pronouns, including when the resident is not physically present; 35 (F) Denying a resident the right to wear or be dressed in clothing, 36 accessories or cosmetics that are permitted for any other resident; 37 (G) Restricting a resident's right to associate with other residents or 38 visitors, including the right to consensual expression of intimacy or 39 sexual relations, unless the restriction is uniformly applied to all 40 residents in a nondiscriminatory manner; and 41 (H) Denying or restricting a resident from accessing appropriate 42 Raised Bill No. 6913 LCO No. 4357 3 of 6 medical or nonmedical care, or providing medical or nonmedical care 43 that unreasonably demeans the resident's dignity or causes avoidable 44 discomfort. 45 (2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the extent that 46 they are incompatible with any professionally reasonable clinical 47 judgment regarding the care of a resident. 48 (c) Each long-term care facility shall post in a prominent place in such 49 facility the following notice printed in at least fourteen-point boldface 50 capital letters: "(NAME OF FACILITY) DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE 51 AND DOES NOT PERMIT DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING, BUT 52 NOT LIMITED TO, BULLYING, ABUSE, HARASSMENT OR 53 DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT ON THE BASIS OF ACTUAL OR 54 PERCEIVED SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY OR 55 EXPRESSION OR HIV STATUS. YOU MAY FILE A COMPLAINT 56 WITH THE OFFICE OF THE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN 57 (PROVIDE CONTACT INFORMATION) IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU 58 HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS KIND OF DISCRIMINATION." 59 (d) (1) Each long-term care facility shall develop and implement 60 procedures for recordkeeping, including, but not limited to, records 61 generated at the time of a resident's admission that include the resident's 62 gender identity, correct name and pronouns, as indicated by the 63 resident. Each facility shall keep such records up to date. 64 (2) The State Ombudsman shall establish policies and procedures for 65 recording complaints filed from residents of long-term care facilities 66 pursuant to the provisions of this section. 67 (e) Long-term care facilities shall protect personally identifiable 68 information regarding residents' sexual orientation, whether a resident 69 is transgender, a resident's transition history and a resident's human 70 immunodeficiency virus status from unauthorized disclosure in 71 accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 72 Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191, as amended from time to time, if applicable, 73 Raised Bill No. 6913 LCO No. 4357 4 of 6 and any other applicable provision of federal or state law. A facility shall 74 take any steps reasonably necessary to minimize the likelihood of 75 inadvertent or incidental disclosure of such information to other 76 residents, visitors or facility staff, except to the minimum extent 77 necessary for facility staff to perform their duties. 78 (f) Long-term care facility staff not directly involved in providing 79 direct care to a resident, including, but not limited to, a transgender or 80 gender-nonconforming resident, shall not be present during physical 81 examination or the provision of personal care to such resident if such 82 resident is partially or fully unclothed without the express permission 83 of such resident or such resident's legal guardian, legal representative 84 or other legally responsible party. A facility shall use doors, curtains, 85 screens or other effective visual barriers to provide bodily privacy for 86 all residents, including, but not limited to, transgender or gender- 87 nonconforming residents, whenever such residents are partially or fully 88 unclothed. All residents, including, but not limited to, lesbian, gay, 89 bisexual, transgender or gender-nonconforming residents, shall be 90 informed of and have the right to refuse to be examined, observed or 91 treated by any facility staff when the primary purpose of such 92 examination, observation or treatment is educational or informational 93 rather than therapeutic, or for the evaluation or reevaluation of a 94 resident's health. Such refusal shall not diminish the resident's access to 95 care for the primary purpose of diagnosis or treatment. 96 (g) (1) At least once every two years, a long-term care facility shall 97 ensure that every facility staff member who works directly with 98 residents receives training, developed by the Commissioner of Public 99 Health pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, on cultural 100 competency focusing on residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, 101 transgender or gender-nonconforming or who are living with human 102 immunodeficiency virus. 103 (2) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Commissioner of Public Health 104 shall develop training materials for the purposes of subdivision (1) of 105 Raised Bill No. 6913 LCO No. 4357 5 of 6 this subsection. Such training materials (A) may be developed in 106 consultation with entities with expertise in the legal and social 107 challenges faced by aging persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual 108 or transgender or gender-nonconforming or who are living with human 109 immunodeficiency virus, and (B) shall provide facility staff with the 110 knowledge and skills necessary to provide effective care, in compliance 111 with the provisions of this section, for such persons. 112 (3) Each long-term care facility shall ensure that a facility staff 113 member required to receive training pursuant to the provisions of this 114 subsection receive such training not more than six months after such 115 facility staff member is hired unless such facility staff member provides 116 proof of having received comparable training within the prior two years 117 that the facility determines complies with the provisions of this 118 subsection. If a facility determines that a facility staff member's prior 119 training complies with the provisions of this subsection, a record of the 120 content of such training sufficient to determine its compliance with the 121 provisions of this subsection shall be kept on site at such facility. 122 (h) If the Commissioner of Public Health finds that a long-term care 123 facility has failed to comply with the provisions of this section, the 124 commissioner may take any disciplinary action against such long-term 125 care facility permitted under section 19a-494 of the general statutes. 126 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section Statement of Purpose: To prohibit long-term care facilities or long-term care facility staff from discriminating against any long-term care facility resident on the basis of such resident's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or human immunodeficiency virus status. Raised Bill No. 6913 LCO No. 4357 6 of 6 [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.]

Substitute House Bill No. 6913 Public Act No. 25-17 AN ACT PROHIBITING LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES FROM DISCRIMINATING AGAINST LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY RESIDENTS. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: (1) "Long-term care facility" or "facility" means a nursing home facility, as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, or a managed residential community, as defined in section 19a-693 of the general statutes, with assisted living services regulated by the Department of Public Health; (2) "Long-term care facility staff" or "facility staff" means all persons employed by or contracted directly with a long-term care facility; and (3) "Resident" means a resident or patient of a long-term care facility. (b) (1) No long-term care facility or long-term care facility staff shall discriminate against any resident on the basis of such resident's race, color, religious creed, sex, actual or perceived gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, intellectual disability, mental disability, learning disability, physical disability, status as a veteran, status as a victim of domestic Substitute House Bill No. 6913 Public Act No. 25-17 2 of 4 violence or human immunodeficiency virus status. (2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the extent that they are incompatible with any professionally reasonable clinical judgment regarding the care of a resident. (c) Each long-term care facility shall post in a prominent place in such facility the following notice printed in at least fourteen-point boldface capital letters: "(NAME OF FACILITY) DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE AND DOES NOT PERMIT DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, BULLYING, ABUSE, HARASSMENT OR DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGIOUS CREED, SEX, GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, MARITAL STATUS, AGE, NATIONAL ORIGIN, ANCESTRY, INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, MENTAL DISABILITY, LEARNING DISABILITY, PHYSICAL DISABILITY, STATUS AS A VETERAN, STATUS AS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OR HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS STATUS. YOU MAY FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE OFFICE OF THE LONG- TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN (PROVIDE CONTACT INFORMATION) IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED DISCRIMINATION." (d) The State Ombudsman shall establish policies and procedures for recording complaints filed by or on behalf of residents of long-term care facilities pursuant to the provisions of this section. (e) Long-term care facility staff not directly involved in providing direct care to a resident shall not be present during physical examination or the provision of personal care to such resident if such resident is partially or fully unclothed without the express permission of such resident or such resident's legal guardian, legal representative or other legally responsible party. A facility shall use doors, curtains, screens or other effective visual barriers to provide bodily privacy for all residents Substitute House Bill No. 6913 Public Act No. 25-17 3 of 4 whenever such residents are partially or fully unclothed. All residents shall be informed of and have the right to refuse to be examined, observed or treated by any facility staff when the primary purpose of such examination, observation or treatment is educational or informational rather than therapeutic, or for the evaluation or reevaluation of a resident's health. Such refusal shall not diminish the resident's access to care for the primary purpose of diagnosis or treatment. (f) (1) At least once every two years, a long-term care facility shall ensure that every facility staff member who works directly with residents receives training, developed by the Commissioner of Public Health pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, on cultural competency focusing on residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or gender-nonconforming or who are living with human immunodeficiency virus. (2) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Commissioner of Public Health shall develop training materials for the purposes of subdivision (1) of this subsection. Such training materials (A) may be developed in consultation with entities with expertise in the legal and social challenges faced by aging persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender or gender-nonconforming or who are living with human immunodeficiency virus, and (B) shall provide facility staff with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide effective care, in compliance with the provisions of this section, for such persons. (3) Each long-term care facility shall ensure that a facility staff member required to receive training pursuant to the provisions of this subsection receives such training not more than six months after such facility staff member is hired unless such facility staff member provides proof of having received comparable training within the prior two years that the facility determines complies with the provisions of this subsection. If a facility determines that a facility staff member's prior Substitute House Bill No. 6913 Public Act No. 25-17 4 of 4 training complies with the provisions of this subsection, a record of the content of such training sufficient to determine its compliance with the provisions of this subsection shall be kept on site at such facility. (g) If the Commissioner of Public Health finds that a long-term care facility has failed to comply with the provisions of this section, the commissioner may take any disciplinary action against such long-term care facility permitted under section 19a-494 of the general statutes. (h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any remedies available to a resident at law or in equity.