Creating a health care innovation fund and establishing a permanent workforce sustainability fund are just two policy recommendations among more than two dozen proposed by the state Comptroller’s 2026 Healthcare Cabinet Report.
Comptroller Sean Scanlon released the report on Monday during a news conference with cabinet members held in the state Capitol. The 42-page report is the third issued by the Healthcare Cabinet, which was formed in 2023.
The report offers specific policy recommendations from each of the cabinet’s eight subcommittees: children, LGBTQIA+, Mental health, rural access, urban: accessibility and affordability, urban: equities and disparities, women and workforce.
Last year, the 2025 report made 38 recommendations, with 15 receiving a public hearing and seven being approved by the state General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont.
Among the seven bills approved was Senate Bill 1450, which established a tuition reimbursement/loan repayment program for the healthcare workforce and House Bill 7287, which raised Medicaid rates.
In its 2026 report, the Healthcare Cabinet offers 27 policy recommendations.
Among those recommendations, the workforce subcommittee proposes creating a Healthcare Innovation Fund that would be modeled after the existing Manufacturing Innovation Fund. The proposal is to establish a dedicated line item in the state budget and bond authorizations with an initial $100 million to be spent over three years.
The intent of the fund is to “support the growth and sustainability of Connecticut’s healthcare workforce,” the committee states.
The workforce subcommittee also supports expanding the lending capacity of the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) for undergraduate and graduate students to provide financing options to access health profession programs. The subcommittee states the proposal is in response to recent changes in federal policy that take effect on July 1.
The Urban: Equities and Disparities subcommittee also supports establishing a “permanent, inflation-indexed Workforce Innovation & Sustainability (WISE) fund” that includes roughly 40% set aside for urban areas. The fund would be used for workforce training and student loan repayments.
Other policy proposals from the various subcommittees include supporting a permanent child tax credit of $600 per child and extending the state’s federal response reserve for another fiscal year.
“The greatest threat to health care access in my lifetime is happening right now,” Scanlon said. “This report … is a roadmap for how we can accordingly protect and strengthen Connecticut’s healthcare ecosystem.”
