FRISCO — The importance of providing rural and remote communities with increased access to health care services is a topic that has frequently come up in conversations with Rep. Matt Martinez (D-D62) and Sen. Cleave Simpson (R-D6) since the lawmakers were elected to office in 2022 and 2020, respectively.
Once again, these legislators who are strong proponents of bi-partisan efforts have gotten a bill across the finish line with Governor Jared Polis signing HB24-168 “Remote Monitoring Services for Medicaid Members” into law earlier this week.
The bill was also sponsored by Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon and Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco.
SB24-168 will direct the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to reimburse the use of telehealth monitoring for outpatient services for Medicaid patients and provide coverage for continuous glucose monitoring devices.
Additionally, the new law will create a grant program to assist rural and shortage area providers in obtaining remote telehealth monitoring equipment. Funds from the grant program could also be used for training staff on utilizing remote monitoring equipment.
“For many of the residents living in my district, the nearest hospital is miles and miles away, making it hard to receive high-quality health care when they need it,” said Martinez. “This law expands telehealth services into rural and underserved communities like mine so everyone can access the treatment and care needed to live a healthy life. Our bipartisan law also creates a rural-specific grant program to help our health care providers locate and implement telehealth technology in their practice.”
“This concept of an expansion of remote monitoring was really an idea Senator Bob Rankin was working on before he left the legislature more than two years ago. I’d heard about it but wasn’t actively involved,” Senator Simpson told the Valley Courier.
“But when Senator Roberts picked it up this last session, he reached out to me, and I said I thought it was a wonderful opportunity for rural communities for what it could mean from the patient, hospital and provider’s perspective. It will also be a cost saver for taxpayers when people on Medicaid can avoid a cost to the emergency room. The hospital here has been piloting this program for the better part of the year and they could probably quantify how beneficial it is.”
Senator Simpson went on to say, “The general legislature isn’t always so good at getting things done but, routinely, you find these gems and policy opportunities where you can actually do something to improve people’s lives, and this one is doubly valuable. It just pays dividends all around the system. It’s a good bill.”
