New Laws to Support Rural Health Care, Increase Availability of Telehealth Services Go Into Effect

DENVER, CO – On August 7, two laws to support rural health care and increase the availability of telehealth services in rural and underserved areas will go into effect.

SB24-055, sponsored by Senator Janice Marchman, D-Loveland, and Representative Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs, improves access to behavioral health care in rural Colorado by creating a new Agricultural and Rural Community Behavioral Health program that will work to better connect farmers, ranchers, and their families to behavioral health care. The program will partner with the Behavioral Health Administration, Colorado Department of Agriculture, and stakeholders to work directly with behavioral health care providers and liaisons to provide support to agricultural industry workers and communities throughout Colorado.

“Colorado’s farmers, ranchers, and their families are struggling to get the behavioral health care they urgently need, and the results have been disastrous,” said Marchman. “Everyone deserves to have behavioral health care created by and for their own communities. This new law will bolster our ongoing efforts to close the rural mental health gap, and ultimately help save lives across our state.”

“Coloradans living in rural and mountain communities, like mine, deserve access to high-quality health care – including mental and behavioral health care,” said Lukens. “We’re taking steps to expand mental health care support for our farmers and ranchers in their communities. Mental health matters in every corner of our state, and this new law will improve access, outreach, and connection for our farmers and ranchers to receive the behavioral health care they need.”

Also sponsored by Senator Perry Will, R-New Castle, and Representative Anthony Hartsook, R-Parker, SB24-055 establishes a working group and centralizes existing grant programs within the Colorado Department of Agriculture to better address the root causes of behavioral health issues in rural and agricultural communities.

Farmers, ranchers, and those in the agriculture industry currently rank fourth in the state for the highest suicide rate. This law aims to connect farmers and ranchers with tailored behavioral health care resources.

Sponsored by Senator Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Representative Matthew Martinez, D-Monte Vista, SB24-168 directs the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to reimburse the use of telehealth remote monitoring for outpatient services for Medicaid patients and provide coverage for continuous glucose monitoring devices. Also sponsored by Senator Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, the new law creates 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.

“Expanding access to health care is critical, especially in our rural and mountain communities,” said McCluskie. “Members of my family live with diabetes, and continuous glucose monitors have made living with this disease better for all of us and ensured strong health outcomes for my husband. To help ensure everyone has access to the health care they need when they need it, our law works to expand and encourage telehealth options. This new law also establishes a grant program to help our hospitals and providers implement telehealth technology and better serve our community members.”

“Coloradans in my district know firsthand how challenging and expensive it can be to access critical health care services,” said Roberts. “During my time in the legislature, I’ve worked hard to deliver high-quality, affordable health care services to underserved and rural areas and this law expands access to remote health services and continuous glucose monitors, which have proven to be successful at ensuring patients receive the right care, at the right place, at the right time and save so much money in the long-run.”

“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 remote monitoring technology in their practice.”