House Bill No. 6836, set to take effect on October 1, 2025, authorizes the Department of Social Services (DSS) to implement a global budget payment methodology for licensed acute care hospitals, including children's hospitals, that choose to participate in the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) federal innovation model. This new payment methodology will replace the existing Medicaid fee-for-service payment method for participating hospitals starting January 1, 2027, and will apply to all service categories included in the global payment model. Nonparticipating hospitals will continue to use the fee-for-service payment method.

The AHEAD program is an 11-year federal demonstration initiative aimed at managing healthcare quality and costs across all payors in Connecticut. The bill reflects the state's commitment to improving health equity and reducing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. The global budget payment methodology is designed to provide participating hospitals with a fixed annual budget based on historical payment data, adjusted for inflation and changes in service demand. The bill does not specify any deletions from current law but introduces new provisions to facilitate this transition in payment methodology.