General Assembly Raised Bill No. 471
February Session, 2020 LCO No. 2834
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING MATERNAL HEALTH.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section,
2 "perinatal mood and anxiety disorders" means a spectrum of mood and
3 anxiety disorders, including, but not limited to, perinatal mood
4 disorder, perinatal anxiety disorder, perinatal psychosis and perinatal
5 obsessive-compulsive disorder, that may affect women during
6 pregnancy and for up to twelve months postpartum.
7 (b) Not later than January 1, 2021, and every five years thereafter, the
8 Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, in consultation
9 with the Commissioner of Public Health, shall develop and implement
10 a five-year strategic plan to improve access to perinatal mood and
11 anxiety disorder screening, referral, treatment and support services. The
12 strategic plan shall provide strategies to:
13 (1) Increase awareness among providers of state-funded community-
14 based programs that serve women who are at risk of or are experiencing
15 a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder about the prevalence of perinatal
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16 mood and anxiety disorders and the effects of such disorders on women
17 and their children;
18 (2) Establish a referral network of community-based mental health
19 providers and support services addressing perinatal mood and anxiety
20 disorders;
21 (3) Increase women's access to formal and informal peer support
22 services relating to perinatal mood and anxiety disorders;
23 (4) Raise public awareness of and reduce the stigma relating to
24 perinatal mood and anxiety disorders; and
25 (5) Leverage funding sources to support existing community-based
26 perinatal mood and anxiety disorder screening, referral, treatment and
27 support services.
28 (c) Not later than January 1, 2022, the Commissioner of Mental Health
29 and Addiction Services shall report, in accordance with the provisions
30 of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee
31 of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public
32 health regarding the implementation of the strategic plan and any
33 recommendations for legislation relating to such implementation.
34 Sec. 2. Section 19a-490u of the general statutes is repealed and the
35 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
36 (a) [On or after October 1, 2015, each] Each hospital, as defined in
37 section 19a-490, shall [be required to] include training in the symptoms
38 of dementia as part of its regularly provided training to staff members
39 who provide direct care to patients.
40 (b) On and after October 1, 2020, each hospital shall be required to
41 include training in implicit bias as part of its regularly provided training
42 to staff members who provide direct care to women who are pregnant
43 or in the postpartum period. As used in this subsection, "implicit bias"
44 means an attitude or internalized stereotype that affects a person's
45 perceptions, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner and often
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46 contribute to unequal treatment of a person based on such person's race,
47 ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or other
48 characteristics.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage 19a-490u
Statement of Purpose:
To improve maternal health in the state.
[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.]
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Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: