Sec. 31-284a. State contracting with private insurance carrier. Duties and powers of Commissioner of Administrative Services. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 31-284a. State contracting with private insurance carrier. Duties and powers of Commissioner of Administrative Services. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 4a-19 and 4a-20 to the contrary, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall solicit proposals from any management firm engaged in the business of administering workers' compensation claims, or from any authorized mutual insurance company or stock company or subsidiary thereof writing workers' compensation or employer's liability insurance in this state, for the purposes of administering the workers' compensation claims filed against the state, or of insuring the state's full liability under workers' compensation and administering such claims. The commissioner may, at said commissioner's discretion, reject any or all of such proposals if they are deemed to be inadequate to effectively serve the needs of the state concerning workers' compensation.

      (b) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, which establish the fees payable by this state for its employees under the provisions of this chapter, based on the medical procedure, combination of procedures or diagnosis of the patient, provided the fee schedule shall not apply to services rendered to a claimant who is participating in the state's managed care plan. The regulations shall limit annual growth in total medical fees payable by the state to no more than the annual percentage increase in the consumer price index for all urban workers. Said commissioner may exclude from participation in the state workers' compensation managed care program any medical provider found, through a systematic program of utilization review, to exceed generally accepted standards of the scope, duration or intensity of services rendered to patients with similar diagnostic characteristics. The state shall not make any payment to a facility owned in whole or in part by the referring practitioner.

      (c) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall have sole responsibility for establishing procedures for all executive branch agencies participating in the state of Connecticut workers' compensation program, except that all mandatory subjects of collective bargaining pertaining to modified or alternative duty shall continue to be governed by the provisions of chapter 68.

      (P.A. 81-469, S. 1, 8; P.A. 93-228, S. 5, 35; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2, S. 29.)

      History: P.A. 93-228 added Subsec. (b) re commissioner of administrative services' regulatory power and designated existing language as Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 1993; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes and to delete provision re S.A. 81-22, and added Subsec. (c) to vest Commissioner of Administrative Services with sole authority for establishing procedures for executive branch agencies re state workers' compensation program, except mandatory collective bargaining re modified or alternative duty, effective July 1, 2004.

      Cited. 220 C. 915; Id., 920.