Wheelchair dealers must respond quickly and report repair times

Authorized wheelchair dealers must provide timely repairs and respond to repair requests. These duties cover authorized dealers and wheelchairs they sell or lease in Connecticut. Dealers who sell or lease complex rehabilitation wheelchairs must provide home repairs when the consumer asks. Dealers must keep an email address and phone line available each business day to receive and record requests. This section takes effect July 1, 2026. Dealers must respond within one business day and order needed parts within three business days after assessing the repair or receiving insurer approval.

The aging and disability commissioner may spend money on community inclusion services. This applies to people age 21 or older who are both blind or visually impaired and deaf. The commissioner may spend up to $14,000 per person per fiscal year, in addition to other spending for that person. The commissioner may set eligibility criteria; the allowance does not guarantee services. This section takes effect July 1, 2026. The spending limit applies per person, per fiscal year.

The Social Services commissioner must report HUSKY C eligibility and asset-limit information to legislative committees. The reports cover people eligible for HUSKY C and those found ineligible because their assets exceeded the program's limit. Reports must include people found ineligible because their assets exceeded the limit, how much they exceeded it by, and projected state costs if the limit were raised. The first report is due October 1, 2027. Reports are due annually through October 1, 2032.

The Social Services commissioner must study how peer support specialists are paid, supervised, and trained, then recommend ways to include their work in the state medical assistance program. Peer support specialists must have lived experience with mental illness or substance use disorder and certification through a program run by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The review must consider services that could benefit from peer support, current practices, approaches used in other states, and payment methods that could help make enough specialists available. The commissioner must send the study and recommendations to the human services committee by January 31, 2027.