(a) The chairpersons of the Commission on Economic Competitiveness, established pursuant to section 2-124, shall appoint and convene a health data collaborative working group to examine and make recommendations regarding:

(1) Initiatives to support research and development for precision medicine and personalized health;

(2) Economic growth initiatives for businesses working in bioscience, biopharma, biotech, genomics, clinomics, epigenomics, pharmacogenomics, the microbiome field and related fields in the state;

(3) Health data access, privacy and security initiatives; and

(4) Advancements in health data and population health to promote efficient and innovative platforms for collecting health data in order to understand the interplay between genetic, behavioral and environmental factors in the incidence of disease or illness.

(b) Appointments to the working group pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall include, but need not be limited to, the Health Information Technology Officer, designated in accordance with section 19a-755, and representatives from the insurance industry, the health care industry, the Connecticut Education Network, broadband Internet service providers, the Connecticut Technology Council, the bioscience industry and public or private universities and research institutions. The working group shall also include the Consumer Counsel, or the Consumer Counsel’s designee. All appointments to the working group shall be made not later than thirty days after June 30, 2017. Any member of the working group established pursuant to this section may be a member of the working group established pursuant to special act 16-20 or a member of the General Assembly or the Commission on Economic Competitiveness.

(c) The chairpersons of the Commission on Economic Competitiveness shall select the chairperson of the working group. The chairperson of the working group shall schedule the first meeting of the working group, which shall be held not later than sixty days after June 30, 2017.

(d) Not later than January 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, the working group shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to the Commission on Economic Competitiveness and the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, public health and energy and technology, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a.

(P.A. 17-85, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 17-85 effective June 30, 2017.