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Senate approves telehealth pilot to expand care in rural and underserved areas
Summary
The Senate passed a telehealth pilot (House Bill 345) to fund up to three Department of Health projects targeting gaps in rural and underserved care, including mental‑health triage and dementia services; supporters said pilots will improve access where private telehealth is not available.
Senator Shiozawa introduced House Bill 345, a telehealth pilot project for the Department of Health that will fund up to three projects focused on underserved populations — for example, ER psychiatric triage, teletrauma stabilization, and dementia care and transitions to home health services.
Supporters said telehealth is an important tool to extend specialist care into rural hospitals and emergency departments and to better manage chronic and behavioral health needs. Senator Davis and other proponents said pilot projects would help identify gaps and build infrastructure to expand telehealth to communities without employer‑provided private telehealth services.
Opponents asked whether private telehealth vendors already provide services to many employees; supporters said the pilot would focus on gaps in access and measure outcomes. Senators discussed interstate credentialing and compacts as longer‑term questions. The Senate passed the measure under suspension of the rules and sent it on to the House for signature.
