Sec. 19a-486d. Sale of nonprofit hospitals: Disapproval by commissioner. Powers of commissioner.

(a) The commissioner shall deny an application filed pursuant to subsection (d) of section 19a-486a unless the commissioner finds that: (1) In a situation where the asset or operation to be transferred provides or has provided health care services to the uninsured or underinsured, the purchaser has made a commitment to provide health care to the uninsured and the underinsured; (2) in a situation where health care providers or insurers will be offered the opportunity to invest or own an interest in the purchaser or an entity related to the purchaser safeguard procedures are in place to avoid a conflict of interest in patient referral; and (3) certificate of need authorization is justified in accordance with chapter 368z. The commissioner may contract with any person, including, but not limited to, financial or actuarial experts or consultants, or legal experts with the approval of the Attorney General, to assist in reviewing the completed application. The commissioner shall submit any bills for such contracts to the purchaser. Such bills shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars. The purchaser shall pay such bills no later than thirty days after the date of receipt of such bills.

(b) The commissioner may, during the course of a review required by this section: (1) Issue in writing and cause to be served upon any person, by subpoena, a demand that such person appear before the commissioner and give testimony or produce documents as to any matters relevant to the scope of the review; and (2) issue written interrogatories, to be answered under oath, as to any matters relevant to the scope of the review and prescribing a return date that would allow a reasonable time to respond. If any person fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection, the commissioner, through the Attorney General, may apply to the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford seeking enforcement of such subpoena. The superior court may, upon notice to such person, issue and cause to be served an order requiring compliance. Service of subpoenas ad testificandum, subpoenas duces tecum, notices of deposition and written interrogatories as provided in this subsection may be made by personal service at the usual place of abode or by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the person to be served at such person's principal place of business within or without this state or such person's residence.

(P.A. 88-230, S. 10, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4–6; P.A. 97-188, S. 5, 10; P.A. 98-36, S. 6; P.A. 03-73, S. 5; P.A. 04-258, S. 24; P.A. 10-179, S. 114; P.A. 14-168, S. 11; P.A. 15-146, S. 32.)

History: P.A. 97-188 effective June 26, 1997 (Revisor's note: P.A. 88-230, 90-98, 93-142 and 95-220 authorized substitution of “judicial district of Hartford” for “judicial district of Hartford-New Britain” in public and special acts of 1997, effective September 1, 1998); P.A. 98-36 made a technical correction, changing “in” to “within or without” in Subsec. (c); P.A. 03-73 replaced former Subsecs. (a) and (b) with new Subsec. (a), no longer requiring decision by Attorney General before commissioner considers agreement, and redesignated existing Subsec. (c) as new Subsec. (b), making technical changes therein; P.A. 04-258 amended Subsec. (a)(2) by adding “in a situation where the asset or operation to be transferred provides or has provided health care services to the uninsured or underinsured”, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 10-179 amended Subsec. (a)(4) by replacing reference to Secs. 19a-637 to 19a-639 with reference to Ch. 368z; P.A. 14-168 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding “high quality and” and adding “after accounting for any proposed change impacting hospital staffing”, effective June 3, 2014; P.A. 15-146 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting former Subdiv. (1) re affected community assured of continued access to high quality and affordable health care and redesignating existing Subdivs. (2) to (4) as Subdivs. (1) to (3), effective July 1, 2015.