Hospitals may offer opioid treatment in emergency departments

Hospitals may provide medication and follow-up support to emergency patients with opioid use disorder. This applies to patients who come to a hospital emergency department with symptoms of opioid use disorder. Federal law must allow the medication, and it must be clinically indicated and accepted by the patient. Hospitals may not provide medication when it is clinically contraindicated, and clinicians retain professional judgment. These permissions begin January 1, 2027.

Providers must ask about sharing certain minors’ safety plans with school and send them when required written consent is given. This applies to health care providers, qualifying minors, and the schools receiving plans. This applies when a provider prepares a safety plan for a minor who received at least 12 consecutive days of inpatient behavioral health care. The provider must obtain written consent from the parent or legally authorized representative, or from the minor if at least 16. The provider must send the plan securely. Confidential information that the minor may keep private remains protected. Provider duties begin April 1, 2027. School boards must arrange secure accounts by January 1, 2027, and send account addresses to the state by April 1, 2027.

Connecticut joins a compact allowing eligible EMS workers to practice across participating state lines. This covers emergency medical technicians, advanced emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other licensed EMS levels between EMT and paramedic. Connecticut’s participation cannot begin until at least one year after Massachusetts, New York, or Rhode Island enacts the compact. Workers must meet the compact’s conditions, including holding a current unrestricted license in a participating state and working under a medical director’s supervision. Once the stated trigger is met, Connecticut applicants for EMS licensure or certification must submit state and national criminal history checks. The act is effective October 1, 2026, but Connecticut’s participation cannot begin until at least one year after a qualifying neighboring state enacts the compact.