HB 5242, An Act Requiring Certain Health Care Facilities To Allow Terminally Ill Qualifying Patients To Use Cannabis

TESTIMONY OF THE CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
SUBMITTED TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE

Monday, February 23, 2026

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) appreciates this opportunity to submit testimony concerning HB 5242, An Act Requiring Certain Health Care Facilities To Allow Terminally Ill Qualifying Patients To Use Cannabis.  CHA opposes the bill as written.

Connecticut hospitals make our state stronger by delivering nationally recognized, world-class care, supporting jobs and economic growth, and serving communities across Connecticut.  Every day, hospitals improve access, affordability, and health equity — providing care to all patients regardless of ability to pay.  At the same time, hospitals invest in their workforce and local communities, even as they navigate significant financial and federal challenges.

HB 5242 seeks to mandate that hospitals, nursing homes, hospice inpatient facilities, and short-term hospital special hospice facilities allow terminally ill patients to use cannabis while they are patients at the facility.  The bill language misapprehends several issues about the laws and regulations governing hospitals. 

HB 5242 does not take into consideration that hospitals must comply with the State Operations Manual, Appendix A, in order to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs.  Appendix A provides a list of the core regulations applicable to hospitals, along with detailed compliance guidance — so-called Conditions of Participation (CoP) for Hospitals.  Every hospital accepting Medicare or Medicaid is expected to follow these federal rules without the need for any additional enforcement action or notification.  The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is the designated “state agency” or “SA” tasked with assisting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in enforcing the CoPs.  

Various federal laws would prohibit hospitals from self-administering medical marijuana (as it is known in the federal nomenclature) within the hospital setting.  Currently, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, meaning it is not yet deemed safe for use and is, by nature, experimental.

HB 5242 attempts to state that the federal law regarding the drug’s status as a Schedule I drug is to be ignored by the hospital.  There is no legal way for Connecticut to dictate that a hospital must defy federal law in this manner.  Further, DPH, the state agency deputized by CMS to carry out reviews, would be required to follow the federal law.  CMS-contracted or -approved accrediting bodies, such as the Joint Commission, also must follow the federal law when acting as the “deemed status” reviewing body.

HB 5242 requires Connecticut hospitals to break the law — a law that DPH itself will need to enforce as part of the CMS oversight system and the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) would need to enforce as part of its role overseeing controlled substances laws.

At a minimum, the state should hold hospitals harmless for any impacts caused by this approach. 

Further, the bill ignores that medical cannabis is expected to be reclassified as a Schedule III drug.  Under the CoPs, no controlled substance (Schedule II through V) is allowed to be self-administered by a hospital patient.  See State Operations Manual Tag A-0502; Tag A-0510 inclusive.  All controlled substances in a hospital must comply with strict federal requirements for security, locking, ordering, pharmacy oversight, nursing or other provider administration, diversion suppression, and documentation.  State law cannot override those federal mandates. 

There are also basic laws for the oversight of controlled substances that do not allow what is described in the bill.  As such, the “bedside” plan described in HB 5242 is misaligned with federal rules and could not be legally implemented in hospitals once the drugs are reclassified as Schedule III drugs. 

The bill language posits that waiting for federal enforcement notices or actual citations for illegal behavior is the line that must be crossed before a hospital would be potentially exempt from the new state mandate.  That is unworkable.  The mandated action is already prohibited by the plain language of the federal requirements.  The bill’s plan is unworkable and likely unconstitutional. 

As opposed to taking action on HB 5242, we ask, instead, that a group be formed populated by experts with relevant experience in hospital rules and operations — including the federal requirements and the intricacies of drug law oversight and medication management in a hospital setting — to find the best, quickest, legal way to be ready when the classification is switched to Schedule III.  That way, we can allow terminally ill patients access to these medications, working within the rules (rules that still will not allow self-administration).

Until then, if the bill moves forward, which we urge not happen, the following language is necessary and should be added to the bill to lessen some of the risks imposed on hospitals by the mandate:

(NEW) The Department of Public Health shall take no action, including in its role as the state agency for CMS, to review, assess, document, enforce, or penalize any hospital that is in good faith attempting to comply with the terms of this Act.  This prohibition on the department shall include that it will not inform the Centers for Medicare or Medicaid Services about any hospital’s compliance or noncompliance with this Act or with the Conditions of Participation for Hospitals to the extent those conditions intersect with the requirements of this Act.

(NEW) The Department of Consumer Protection shall take no action, including in its role as the state agency overseeing controlled substances, to review, assess, document, enforce, or penalize any hospital that is in good faith attempting to comply with the terms of this Act.  This prohibition on the department shall include that it will not inform the federal Drug Control Agency or any other federal agency about any hospital’s compliance or noncompliance with this Act or with drug control federal laws to the extent those conditions intersect with the requirements of this Act.

(NEW) The state of Connecticut shall hold harmless any hospital that is penalized by the federal government as a result of such hospital’s good faith attempt to comply with the requirements of this Act, including but not limited to reimbursing the hospital for any penalty, fine, legal fees, expert fees,  or other losses or damages imposed on the hospital by the any agency or contractor of the federal government resulting from the hospital’s good faith attempt to comply with this Act.

Thank you for your consideration of our position.  For additional information, contact CHA Government Relations at (203) 294-7301.