On June 30, 2025, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act No. 25-168 (PA 25-168) (the Act), Connecticut’s Budget Bill for the period between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2027. The Act includes two new laws that address access to, and the provision of, emergency medical services by hospitals in Connecticut. Specifically, the Act requires hospital emergency departments to (i) comply with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and regulations established thereunder, as well as any parallel state regulations adopted under this Act (discussed further below), (ii) provide emergency medical care in a non-discriminatory manner, and (iii) ensure that reproductive health care services related to pregnancy complications are provided in cases where there is a serious risk to a patient’s life or health.

The Act became effective upon passage. Below is a detailed summary of the Act’s provisions related to emergency medical care in hospitals.

Hospital Emergency Department Requirements

Emergency Department Compliance with EMTALA

The Act expressly requires hospital emergency departments in Connecticut to comply with EMTALA, including, but not limited to, federal regulations governing emergency department patient transfers, emergency department capabilities, and on-call staffing requirements. This requirement in a new state law is notable because EMTALA already applies under federal law to all hospitals that participate in the federal Medicare program, which means that state hospitals that accept Medicare are already required to comply with EMTALA.

Reproductive Health Care Services

The Act specifically requires hospital emergency departments to include – as part of the emergency services to be furnished in cases where there is a serious risk to a patient’s life or health – reproductive health care services related to “complications of pregnancy that are legal in this state and necessary to treat the patient.” Per the Act, such reproductive health care services can include, but are not limited to, services related to the treatment and management of ectopic pregnancies and services related to miscarriage.

Nondiscrimination

The Act expressly prohibits hospital emergency departments and health care providers from discriminating against patients when providing emergency care on certain factors or categories, including ethnicity, citizenship, age, preexisting medical condition, insurance status, economic status, ability to pay, sex, race, religion, color, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, primary language, or immigration status. However, providers may consider these factors or categories when they are medically significant to patient health care.

Medical Standards of Care and Hospital Policies

The Act expressly states that nothing in its requirements concerning emergency medical services at hospitals shall “impact accepted medical standards of care.” Additionally, the Act requires hospitals to adopt policies and procedures to implement the emergency medical services requirements, and to make such policies and procedures available to the Department of Public Health (DPH) upon request.

Directive to Enact State-Level EMTALA Regulations

The Act also includes a directive for the state to enact regulations to protect access to emergency medical services consistent with current EMTALA requirements, in the event that EMTALA is revoked, is not enforced, or otherwise becomes inapplicable in Connecticut. In such event, the Act directs the DPH Commissioner to adopt regulations that implement certain operational requirements for hospitals in Appendix V of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ State Operations Manual, as such manual existed on December 31, 2024. The Act gives the DPH Commissioner sole discretion to determine if EMTALA has been revoked, is not being adequately enforced, or is no longer applicable in Connecticut, triggering the obligation to adopt state EMTALA regulations, but also states that DPH does not have authority to enact state-level EMTALA regulations under the Act merely in response to routine changes to EMTALA that do not “result in a material loss of patient rights.”

Key Takeaways

The Act’s provisions addressing emergency medical services appear to reflect the state’s concern regarding continued access to emergency medical services and protections under EMTALA at the federal level for patients in Connecticut. Hospitals will need to review, update, and implement policies and processes in accordance with the Act, and should be aware that such policies and processes will be available for review by DPH upon request.

This post was co-authored with Paul Palma, legal intern at Robinson+Cole. Paul is not admitted to practice law.