As Connecticut prepares for the 2026 legislative session, healthcare policy will take center stage. This special series from CTHealthNews.com features leading state policymakers outlining their top healthcare priorities for the year ahead. These insights offer a direct window into the public sector’s role in addressing cost, access, equity, and innovation across Connecticut’s healthcare system.
We kick off the series by featuring insights from State Senator Saud Anwar, Co-Chair of the General Assembly's Public Health. Senator Anwar was elected in 2019 to represent East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington, and South Windsor, is a physician specializing in pulmonary, critical care, and environmental medicine. He chairs Internal Medicine at Manchester Memorial and Rockville General Hospitals and holds a Master’s in Public Health from Yale. A committed humanitarian, Anwar has led disaster relief missions globally and served in advisory roles for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. In Connecticut, he has championed health equity and emergency preparedness. He has received numerous national awards for community leadership and public service, including honors from the Red Cross, FBI, and Anti-Defamation League. He lives in South Windsor with his wife, Dr. Yusra Anis-Anwar, their two sons, and his mother.
Public health in Connecticut and the United States is at an inflection point. Federal funding cuts threaten to disconnect hundreds of thousands of residents from care, but in our own state, we are facing increasing pressures from a variety of issues without simple solutions. In the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers need to be ready to take decisive action on a number of pressing questions.
In the 2025 session, I was extremely frustrated to see two significant advances stymied at the finish line and will be pushing for them again. Amid the continuing fallout of Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc.'s failing ownership of three Connecticut hospitals, I'm laser-focused on restricting private equity ownership of healthcare in Connecticut, an effort that was a step away from becoming law last year. Additionally, the removal of overdose prevention centers from a key public health bill was disheartening for the families of opioid crisis victims seeking new strategies for combatting addiction. I will continue to push these efforts in 2026.
Further efforts next year will reflect continuing pressures on our systems that are leaving people in the lurch. Reflecting Prospect's ownership of Connecticut hospitals, legislators are focused on improving and streamlining the Certificate of Need process, which can drag on for years and impact the planned or potential acquisition of a healthcare organization. Improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of this process is directly necessary as acquisitions are not expected to slow any time soon.
As Prospect has declared bankruptcy, adding further complications to the proceedings around the sale of its hospitals and causing worrying issues to the care patients have received there, legislators should also review the prospects of hospital receivership management. If a hospital goes bankrupt, its patients still need care and its operations need to continue as long as possible in the name of public good. Receivership can confirm that if a hospital goes bankrupt, consistent management can ensure service continues to protect public health and the impacted region.
Another issue that's drawn years of legislative concern, Connecticut has found success in providing compensation and benefits to firefighters who are diagnosed with cancer. I would like to expand that effort from current cancer screenings offered to firefighters to a more in-depth preventive and early identification system we can utilize to keep our first responders safe and prevent serious health issues they experience while on the job.
In recent years, I have paid increasing attention to the uneven emergency medical services availability in our state, a concerning issue for sure that results in EMS deserts and can put individuals in extreme risk in the case of a sudden health event. This is a serious problem, and by developing a statewide dashboard to track emergency responses in different regions and identifying locations where care can be jeopardized, our health systems will be better able to develop new strategies in the name of public health.
A final point of focus in 2026 will surround the legalization of cannabis and its potential health impacts on members of the public. Specifically, the THC levels of a cannabis product can vary wildly, with the potential for health complications and other negative impacts for users. For recreational cannabis products in Connecticut, there are already THC caps for adult-use recreational cannabis products, but they will increase in October of this year, and high-potency THC has been linked to psychosis, addiction and mental health issues for users, especially younger ones. By reviewing these impacts and potentially updating these caps, we can provide another line of defense against mental health issues.
Leadership of the Public Health Committee is dedicated to the many issues impacting our state, and I am looking forward to another legislative session where we can make advances on important issues, whether we're continuing momentum from past years or digging into new issues. With these focuses, we will protect and preserve public health in Connecticut to better prepare for the future.
