Extension of Telemedicine

Colorado House Bill 1029 and the Extension of Telemedicine

Notes on CO HB15-1029 (Health Care Delivery via Telemedicine Statewide) by Shelley Dworet Cohen, MD, chair of the HCAC legislative committee and former HCAC president.

House Bill 1029 Health Care Delivery via Telemedicine Statewide is wending its way through the legislature.  The bill has been amended to read "telehealth" and insures payments to providers with the same rules, regardless of location, according to the PPACA regulations. Elizabeth Arenales of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy wrote in a blog that the amended bill is acceptable, but cautions that profits must not override quality of care. 

HCAC does support this bill in the current medical environment.  To quote our esteemed President of HCACF, Dr. Tom Gottlieb,  "The history that includes physical, social, and environmental issues remains the major diagnostic tool in both diagnostics and therapeutics." In addition, I would add that a "picture is worth 1000 words", but it is but one tool in our medical armamentarium.  It is up to the provider, with input from the patient, to do what is best for the patient. 

Health Care for All Colorado's mission is to see health care as a human right, publicly funded for the public good through a single payer mechanism.  All economic analyses show that single payer assures care for all at lower cost because the savings come from cutting administrative overhead, not patient care.  If you don't believe me,  just look here:https://theconversation.com/infographic-comparing-international-health-systems-30784

That said, we continue to build the grassroots movement to change the system that is run by the monetary interests of the rich and powerful that treat health care as an industry amassing "consumers", and not a human right affecting people.  The myriad of "health care bills" that go through the legislature are tourniquets to stop the bleeding. Fixing a very broken system is the ultimate treatment.