Roland Lemar

The House voted this week to make important changes to the Firefighters Cancer Relief Program, including among other things expanding the types of cancers covered to include skin cancer and authorizing workers’ compensation administrative law judges to handle appeals of any denial of benefits.

Taking care of our first responders is always a legislative priority.

The House also voted to strengthen healthcare for Connecticut's seniors! This legislation among other things increases access for vital biomarker testing, establishes a task force to address the specific needs of seniors with Alzheimer's and dementia, and enhances safety with improved background checks for all nursing home employees.

This action reflects our ongoing efforts to support and care for our aging population.

The House proudly passed Substitute House Bill 6771 establishing a legal requirement for health insurance policies to cover biomarker testing, a type of medical testing that analyzes biological samples—such as tissue or blood—to detect molecular signs (biomarkers) of health conditions or treatment responses.

Key points of the bill include:

• Mandatory Coverage: Health insurance must cover biomarker tests when used for diagnosing, treating, managing, or monitoring diseases.
• Evidence-Based Requirement: Coverage is contingent upon the test having demonstrated clinical utility, meaning it must be supported by:
  
  • FDA approval or clearance,
  • Medicare coverage determinations, or
  • Clinical practice guidelines recognized by the medical community

The bill aims to expand access to potentially life-saving or life-improving tests, especially in personalized or precision medicine, while also ensuring that only scientifically validated tests are covered.

We also passed legislation to make sure that warehouse workers are treated with respect by limiting and providing clarity when employers use production quotas.

The legislation also ensures that:  

• Employers must provide quota information upon hiring an employee
• If quotas change, workers must be notified
• Employees cannot be retaliated against for requesting work records
• Quotas cannot be used to inhibit workers from using the restroom or taking an entitled break

Valuing people over profits is good public policy.