Connecticut

The grounds, as Connecticut describes them

§ 19a-535(b) (Connecticut General Assembly, chapter 368v, retrieved 2026-09-17): "A facility shall not transfer or discharge a resident from the facility except to meet the welfare of the resident which cannot be met in the facility, or unless the resident no longer needs the services of the facility due to improved health, the facility is required to transfer the resident pursuant to section 17b-359 or 17b-360, or the health or safety of individuals in the facility is endangered, or in the case of a self-pay resident, for the resident's nonpayment or arrearage of more than fifteen days of the per diem facility room rate, or the facility ceases to operate. In each case the basis for transfer or discharge shall be documented in the resident's medical record by a physician, a physician assistant or an advanced practice registered nurse. In each case where the welfare, health or safety of the resident is concerned the documentation shall be by the resident's physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse."

The same subsection states two further, narrower grounds reaching only a continuing-care facility: "A facility that is part of a continuing care facility which guarantees life care for its residents may transfer or discharge (1) a self-pay resident who is a member of the continuing care community and who has intentionally transferred assets in a sum that will render the resident unable to pay the costs of facility care in accordance with the contract between the resident and the facility, or (2) a self-pay resident who is not a member of the continuing care community and who has intentionally transferred assets in a sum that will render the resident unable to pay the costs of a total of forty-two months of facility care from the date of initial admission to the facility."

Two limits sit beside the grounds rather than among them. § 19a-535(f): "No resident shall be involuntarily transferred or discharged from a facility if such transfer or discharge is medically contraindicated." And § 19a-535(d): "No resident shall be transferred or discharged from any facility as a result of a change in the resident's status from self-pay or Medicare to Medicaid provided the facility offers services to both categories of residents. Any such resident who wishes to be transferred to another facility that has agreed to accept the resident may do so upon giving at least fifteen days written notice to the administrator of the facility from which the resident is to be transferred and a copy thereof to the appropriate advocate of such resident."

The published process

Requesting the hearing

§ 19a-535(c)(2): "The resident may initiate an appeal pursuant to this section by submitting a written request to the Commissioner of Social Services not later than sixty calendar days after the facility issues the notice of the proposed transfer or discharge, except as provided in subsection (h) of this section. In order to stay a proposed transfer or discharge, the resident must initiate an appeal not later than twenty days after the date the resident receives the notice of the proposed transfer or discharge from the facility unless the resident demonstrates good cause for failing to initiate such appeal within the twenty-day period."

The statute names no address for the written request; the Department of Social Services' Office of Legal Counsel, Regulations and Administrative Hearings (OLCRAH), the unit that conducts hearings of this kind, publishes its own contact (portal.ct.gov, retrieved 2026-09-17): "Mailing Address: DSS-OLCRAH, 55 Farmington Avenue, Hartford CT 06105" and "You may e-mail your questions to the unit at olcrah.DSS@ct.gov." That page separately gives the Director's own address with a floor number, "55 Farmington Avenue, 11th floor", a discrepancy stated rather than reconciled.

On the hearing itself, § 19a-535(h)(1): "upon receipt of a request for a hearing to appeal any proposed transfer or discharge, the Commissioner of Social Services or the commissioner's designee shall hold a hearing to determine whether the transfer or discharge is being effected in accordance with this section. A hearing shall be convened not less than ten, but not more than thirty days from the date of receipt of such request and a written decision made by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee not later than thirty days after the date of termination of the hearing or not later than sixty days after the date of the hearing request, whichever occurs sooner. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 54. In each case the facility shall prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it has complied with the provisions of this section." The same subsection states a check on defective notices: where a notice "does not meet the requirements of subsection (c) of this section, the commissioner shall, not later than ten business days after the date of receipt of such notice from the resident or the facility, order the transfer or discharge stayed and return such notice to the facility."

On pendency and outcome, § 19a-535(h)(5): "an involuntary transfer or discharge shall be stayed pending a decision by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee, and (B) if the commissioner or the commissioner's designee determines the transfer or discharge is being effected in accordance with this section, the facility may not transfer or discharge the resident prior to fifteen days from the date of receipt of the decision by the resident and the resident's guardian or conservator, if any, or the resident's legally liable relative or other responsible party if known." Subsection (h)(6) states the remedy for a violation: the commissioner "may require the facility to readmit the resident to a bed in a semiprivate room or in a private room, if a private room is medically necessary, regardless of whether or not the resident has accepted placement in another facility pending the issuance of a hearing decision or is awaiting the availability of a bed in the facility from which the resident was transferred or discharged." And on delivery of the decision, § 19a-535(h)(7): "The decision shall be deemed to have been received not later than five days after the date it was mailed, unless the facility, the resident or the resident's guardian, conservator, legally liable relative or other responsible party proves otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence."

The notice's required contents

§ 19a-535(c)(1): "Before effecting any transfer or discharge of a resident from the facility, the facility shall notify, in writing, the resident and the resident's guardian or conservator, if any, or legally liable relative or other responsible party if known, of the proposed transfer or discharge, the reasons therefor, the effective date of the proposed transfer or discharge, the location to which the resident is to be transferred or discharged, the right to appeal the proposed transfer or discharge and the procedures for initiating such an appeal as determined by the Department of Social Services, the date by which an appeal must be initiated in order to preserve the resident's right to an appeal hearing and the date by which an appeal must be initiated in order to stay the proposed transfer or discharge and the possibility of an exception to the date by which an appeal must be initiated in order to stay the proposed transfer or discharge for good cause, that the resident may represent himself or herself or be represented by legal counsel, a relative, a friend or other spokesperson, an affirmation by the facility that notice of the proposed transfer or discharge has been provided to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (3) of this subsection, and information as to bed hold and nursing home readmission policy when required in accordance with section 19a-537. The notice shall also include the name, mailing address and telephone number of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman." A separate requirement runs alongside notice to the resident: the facility must notify the State Ombudsman, and "Failure to provide notice to the State Ombudsman pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision shall invalidate any notice of the proposed involuntary transfer or discharge of a resident submitted pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection."

§ 19a-535(e) requires a discharge plan alongside the notice: "no resident shall be transferred or discharged from a facility unless a discharge plan has been developed by the personal physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse of the resident or the medical director in conjunction with the nursing director, social worker or other health care provider." In developing it, "the person responsible for developing the plan shall consider the feasibility of placement near the resident's relatives, the acceptability of the placement to the resident" and other stated factors. On timing: "Not less than thirty days prior to an involuntary transfer or discharge, a copy of the discharge plan shall be provided to the resident's personal physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse if the discharge plan was prepared by the medical director, to the resident and the resident's guardian or conservator, if any, or legally liable relative or other responsible party, if known."

Bed-hold and return

§ 19a-537 (Connecticut General Assembly, chapter 368v, retrieved 2026-09-17) is Connecticut's bed-hold and readmission statute, named but not quoted in § 19a-535's notice requirement. Subsection (b) states the reservation duty: a nursing home shall "Reserve the bed of a resident who is a recipient of medical assistance when the resident is absent from the facility for home leave days authorized under the Medicaid program", and must inform the resident of the conditions under which a reservation is required "and that if the home is not required to reserve the bed, the resident will be admitted to the next available bed in accordance with subsection (e) of this section".

Subsection (c) states a minimum hold for a self-pay resident: "A nursing home shall reserve, for at least fifteen days, the bed of a resident who is a recipient of medical assistance and who is absent from such home due to hospitalization unless the nursing home documents that it has objective information from the hospital confirming that the resident will not return to the nursing home within fifteen days of the hospital admission including the day of hospitalization." Subsection (d) states the reimbursement conditions: a facility is reimbursed for a hospitalization absence "for a maximum of seven days including the admission date of hospitalization" if the facility's vacancy rate is low and the hospital failed to confirm a longer absence. Beyond that: "The nursing home shall be reimbursed for a maximum of eight additional days" under stated conditions — fifteen days total — and, separately, "for reserving the bed of a resident who is absent for up to twenty-one days of home leave as authorized under the Medicaid program" under stated vacancy conditions.

On return, subsection (e): "If a resident's hospitalization exceeds the period of time that a nursing home is required to reserve the resident's bed or the nursing home is not required to reserve the resident's bed under this section, the nursing home: (1) Shall, upon receipt of notification from the hospital that a resident is medically ready for discharge, provide the resident with the first bed available in a semiprivate room or a private room, if a private room is medically necessary; (2) Shall grant the resident priority of admission over applicants for first admission to the nursing home".

§ 19a-537 states its own hearing route for a refusal to readmit, distinct from § 19a-535's transfer-or-discharge hearing. Subsection (h): "A nursing home shall not refuse to readmit a resident unless: (1) The resident's needs cannot be met in the facility; (2) the resident no longer needs the services of the nursing home due to improved health; or (3) the health and safety of individuals in the nursing home would be endangered by readmission of the resident." Where a home refuses, it must notify the resident within twenty-four hours, stating among other things "the resident has twenty days from the date of receipt of the notice from the facility to initiate an appeal". The same subsection states the hearing timing: "The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall convene such hearing not later than fifteen days after the date of receipt of the request. The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall issue a decision not later than thirty days after the date on which the hearing record is closed." And subsection (f) states a readmission right independent of any hearing: where the commissioner finds a resident "has been refused readmission to a nursing home in violation of this section, the resident shall retain the right to be readmitted to the transferring nursing home pursuant to subsection (e) of this section regardless of whether or not the resident has accepted placement in another nursing home while awaiting the availability of a bed in the facility from which the resident was transferred."

The three rows above hoist the questions a facility's counsel answers in the first fifteen minutes. They are quotations from Connecticut's published sources, not a determination that any of them applies to any situation.

Notice periods and deadlines, as stated in the sources

All quoted; none calculated.

Thirty to sixty days' advance notice — § 19a-535(c)(1): "The notice shall be given at least thirty days and no more than sixty days prior to the resident's proposed transfer or discharge", with stated exceptions in which notice is given "as many days before the transfer or discharge as practicable."

Sixty days to preserve the right to a hearing — § 19a-535(c)(2), quoted in full above.

Twenty days to stay the move — § 19a-535(c)(2), same sentence, quoted in full above.

Ten to thirty days to convene the hearing — § 19a-535(h)(1), quoted in full above.

Ten business days to return a defective notice — § 19a-535(h)(1), quoted in full above.

Thirty or sixty days to the decision, whichever occurs sooner — § 19a-535(h)(1), quoted in full above.

Fifteen days after the decision before a permitted transfer or discharge may occur — § 19a-535(h)(5), quoted in full above.

Thirty days before an involuntary transfer or discharge for the discharge plan to reach the resident — § 19a-535(e), quoted in full above.

Fifteen-day minimum Medicaid bed-hold for a hospitalization absence, extendable to a maximum of fifteen total reimbursed days under stated conditions, and up to twenty-one days for home leave — § 19a-537(c) and (d), quoted in full above.

Twenty days to appeal a refused readmission, a hearing convened within fifteen days of the request, and a decision within thirty days of the closed record — § 19a-537(h), quoted in full above.

What any of these periods means for a particular case is for the hearing office to determine.

Source map

Captured: all four, in tools/packets/connecticut-packet.txt. Pending: any first-party page reconciling OLCRAH's two addresses ("55 Farmington Avenue, Hartford CT 06105" and "55 Farmington Avenue, 11th floor, Hartford CT 06105"), and the statute's History note, per the packet's pending list.

Change log

2026-10-06 — Internet Archive captures recorded. Captures requested on 2026-09-06 by an automated capture pass and recorded this date; no human review is claimed for this entry. No quotation, date, finding or link above was changed by it. Each capture below was requested through Save Page Now and then confirmed to play back. Captures added: Connecticut Long Term Care Ombudsman Program → https://web.archive.org/web/20260906132738/https://portal.ct.gov/ltcop/content/contact-us/contact; Connecticut General Assembly, chapter 368v → https://web.archive.org/web/20260906132935/https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_368v.htm#sec_19a-535.

2026-09-17 — Deepened from baseline to full page. Findings (8) through (10) continue the earlier entry's numbering.

Newly captured: § 19a-537 (source 3), Connecticut's bed-hold and readmission statute, and OLCRAH's Contact page (source 4), the Department of Social Services unit that conducts the § 19a-535 hearing though the statute names only the Commissioner. Both were captured by plain curl through cga.ct.gov and portal.ct.gov respectively — source 3 with a browser user-agent, matching source 1's transport, and source 4 with none needed. Source 3's slice uses the same from_occurrence: 2 anchor pattern as source 1, since chap_368v.htm prints every section heading twice (chapter table of contents, then the section's own text). Source 1 was re-captured unchanged from its existing recipe entry; the certificate-verification failure recorded on 2026-08-30 and resolved on 2026-09-08 has not recurred.

Findings: (8) § 19a-537 states its own hearing route for a nursing home's refusal to readmit a resident after a permitted absence — filed with the same Commissioner of Social Services, but a distinct proceeding from § 19a-535's transfer-or-discharge hearing, with its own twenty-day appeal window, fifteen-day hearing-convening deadline, and thirty-day decision deadline. Both hearing routes are quoted as published and are not merged into one. (9) Connecticut's Medicaid bed-hold rule states a floor rather than a single number: a mandatory fifteen-day minimum for a hospitalization absence, extendable to a maximum of fifteen total reimbursed days only if the facility meets stated vacancy and hospital-contact conditions, and a separate twenty-one-day allowance for home leave. This differs in shape from every bed-hold provision captured so far in this index, which state a single period; the difference is stated rather than smoothed into a single number. (10) The OLCRAH Contact page states its own mailing address twice, in two forms — "55 Farmington Avenue, Hartford CT 06105" in a "Mailing Address" line and "55 Farmington Avenue, 11th floor, Hartford CT 06105" in the Director's own contact line — both on the same page; both are quoted and the discrepancy is not reconciled. Recipe: tools/recipes/connecticut.json extended with sources 3 and 4 (existing sources 1-2 unchanged); recipe digest 5f9a18903066. Markdown and HTML fidelity: zero failures against the four-source packet. Capture pending: per the source map. Internet Archive: not yet submitted for the two new sources. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-09-17.

2026-08-30 — Baseline page built from the first Connecticut packet: docket, lede, source map, change log. Not yet captured or written: section 01 (the grounds, as Connecticut describes them) and section 02 (the published process, including the notice's required contents in full, bed-hold and return, and the notice-periods register). Findings: (1) The statute could not be captured by any machine-repeatable transport. cga.ct.gov fails certificate verification to curl and to python with the certifi bundle, and returned an empty body to the session's fetch tool; the capture was taken through the session's browser from the rendered page. The packet marks that source as not re-verifiable by the automated pass, and the reviewer must either re-establish a machine transport or repeat the browser capture by hand. (2) Connecticut runs two appeal clocks from two different starting points: sixty calendar days from the facility's issuing of the notice to preserve the right to a hearing, and twenty days from the resident's receipt of it to stay the proposed move, with a good-cause exception to the twenty days. Both are quoted as published and neither is calculated against the other. (3) Notice to the State Ombudsman is a condition of the notice's validity — failure to give it "shall invalidate" the notice to the resident. No other state built so far states that consequence. (4) The statute requires the facility's notice to state "the procedures for initiating such an appeal as determined by the Department of Social Services" and states no address, form or portal itself; no departmental page stating those procedures was captured, so the hearing row states the absence. (5) The statute places the burden of proof on the facility at the hearing, and empowers the commissioner to order readmission where a resident was moved in violation of the section. (6) Nonpayment is a ground only for a "self-pay resident" as the statute defines that term, which expressly excludes a resident whose Medicaid application is pending and who has responded to the department's requests. (7) Bed-hold and readmission are carried by § 19a-537, named in the notice provision and not captured. Capture pending: per the source map. Internet Archive: not yet submitted. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-30. Corrections: hello@fieldassembly.net.