Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2020

Media contact: Amy Fletcher Faircloth, (720) 460-0276
media@afmcommunications.com

Senate Bill Aims to Protect Access to Telehealth

Patients and Health Care Workers Would Remain Safe While Ensuring Access to Convenient, Personalized Care

Denver, CO – A coalition of Colorado health care providers, advocates and patients announced their support today for a bi-partisan bill introduced in the Colorado Senate that seeks to protect Colorado patients’ access to telehealth. 

Senate Bill 212 — sponsored by Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, and Sen. Jack Tate, R-Centennial — protects patients’ ability to receive care via telehealth that was granted during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Telehealth has kept consumers and providers safe while allowing patients to continue their care plan with their providers. This access could be removed when the declared emergency ends unless the state legislature acts.  

“Telehealth has worked really, really well,” said Jill Hall of Denver, whose daughter Anna, age 5, has been receiving physical and occupational therapy twice a week via telehealth. Working with her therapists remotely, Anna has learned to cut with scissors and walk independently up and down stairs. Telehealth is clearly safer and more convenient, said Hall. “Even before the pandemic, we have three other kids, and there are often flus and colds going around. If anybody in the house is sick, we’d have to cancel to protect the therapist.” 

Among other things, SB 212 requires that health insurance carriers, including Medicaid, cover telehealth visits for behavioral, mental and physical health care, as long as they are delivered on a HIPAA-compliant platform. It also waives the requirement that patients have a pre-existing relationship with a provider in order to receive telehealth, and it bars insurers from imposing additional certification or licensure requirements on telehealth providers. 

On March 20, Colorado’s Medicaid program expanded access to telemedicine in order to better serve its 1.2 million members. The new rule allowed community health centers, rural health clinics and the Indian Health Services to bill for telemedicine visits. Additionally, home health and physical and occupational therapies via telehealth were included as covered services. The new rule is expected to sunset on July 18. 

Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, became an advocate for telehealth after a firsthand experience. The 35-year-old runner and skier was in the hospital recovering from hip replacement surgery the day Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency. All of his follow-up care took place via telehealth. “I really liked it,” Soper said. “I was glad to not have to go into a hospital or a clinic, and something about being at home made it easier to talk openly to my doctor about my recovery.”

Not only is telehealth a safe, convenient way to receive quality care, Representative Soper said, but it also has big implications for increasing access to care in rural areas. 

Specifically, SB-212:

• Allows telehealth for assessment, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, self-management, remote monitoring and recommendations for a consumer. 

• Continues parity for in-person and telehealth billing.Includes behavioral, mental and physical health. 

• Requires the Colorado Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing (HCPF) to reimburse federally qualified health centers, rural health centers and the Indian Health Service for telemedicine services.

• Prohibits health insurance carriers from imposing specific limits on the technologies used for telehealth, as long as they are HIPAA-compliant. 

• Allows consumers to establish care with a provider via telehealth. 

“I would like to see telehealth more widely used,” said Representative Soper. “It’s not going to replace in-person visits because those have a time and a place, but it’s a great complementary piece to treating the whole patient.

 “It respects the challenges some people face with transportation and allows safe, effective care. It’s just a win-win-win for patients, providers and the state.”

The bill is supported by a wide range of health care organizations and child and consumer advocates, including the Colorado chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association, the Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado, Colorado Rural Health Center, University of Colorado and the Colorado Children’s Campaign. For a complete list, see below.

About the Colorado chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association 

The APTA Colorado Chapter is a professional, non-profit association composed of approximately 2,455 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and physical therapist/physical therapist assistant students. 

About the Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado 

The Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado is a nonprofit representing home health and home care agencies statewide caring for tens of thousands of Coloradans, including elderly, disabled and blind individuals. Founded in 1970, the association is made up of all sized agencies with a wide range of services. They serve clients in all 64 counties.

Supporters:
Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado

American Physical Therapist Association, Colorado chapter

MEDNAX

Colorado Rural Health Centers

Colorado Community Health Network

American College of Emergency Physicians, Colorado chapter

Colorado Society of Osteopathic Medicine

Colorado Medical Society

Craig Hospital

Colorado Cross Disability Coalition

Occupational Therapy Association of Colorado

University of Colorado

MGA Homecare

Colorado Consumer Health Initiative

Colorado Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons

Colorado Academy of Physician Assistants

American College of Certified Nurse Midwives

Colorado Academy of Family Physicians

National Association of Social Workers, Colorado chapter

Colorado Long-term Assistance Service Providers

PASCO Home Health

Colorado Speech Language and Hearing Association

Colorado Psychological Association

Colorado Psychiatric Society

Health District of Northern Larimer County

Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers

Colorado Children’s Campaign

US Oncology Network

MS Society Colorado

Athletic Trainers Association

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless

Mental Health Colorado

Young Invincibles