HF4264 was introduced in the MN House to establish a telehealth pilot project for schools.

Short description: A bill for an act relating to health; requiring the commissioner of health to establish a telehealth pilot project for school districts; requiring a report; appropriating money.

Bill as introduced…

A bill for an act
relating to health; requiring the commissioner of health to establish a telehealth
pilot project for school districts; requiring a report; appropriating money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. TELEHEALTH PILOT PROJECT.

Subdivision 1.

Establishment. 

The commissioner of health shall establish a pilot project
to determine whether the availability of telehealth services in schools increases student
access to health care services. The commissioner shall contract with a school-connected
telehealth provider to provide, for the 2024-2025 school year, telehealth services to students
in participating school districts. The commissioner shall issue a request for proposals to
select the telehealth provider and school districts. In selecting school districts for the pilot
project, the commissioner shall consider geographic and cultural diversity.

Subd. 2.

Provider requirements. 

In order to be considered for selection as the telehealth
provider, an applicant must:

(1) have experience in providing telehealth services in educational settings, and at the
time of application be providing access to telehealth services to at least 50,000 students;

(2) have experience in providing culturally competent pediatric care;

(3) demonstrate the ability to provide high-quality physical and behavioral health services
and care coordination through telehealth;

(4) demonstrate the ability to establish an adequate network of Minnesota-based telehealth
providers to provide services under the pilot project;

(5) have a technology platform for the provision and coordination of telehealth services
that will be made available to participating school districts;

(6) have the ability to bill health carriers and government health care programs, including
but not limited to medical assistance and MinnesotaCare;

(7) agree to provide telehealth services free of charge to students who are uninsured,
and to waive, or reimburse students for, all cost-sharing incurred for telehealth services
received through the pilot project, in order to reduce barriers to access; and

(8) agree to cooperate with the commissioner and school districts in evaluating the pilot
project, and to share information necessary for the evaluation.

Subd. 3.

School district requirements. 

School districts selected by the commissioner
to participate in the pilot project must:

(1) make telehealth services available through the pilot project to all students within the
district; and

(2) cooperate with the commissioner and provider in evaluating the pilot project.

Subd. 4.

Evaluation; reports. 

The commissioner, in cooperation with participating
school districts, shall evaluate the extent to which the pilot project increased student access
to health care services. The commissioner shall report the results of the evaluation to the
chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over
education finance and policy and health finance and policy, submitting an interim report
by January 1, 2025, and a final report by December 15, 2025. The commissioner shall
include in the final report a recommendation on whether the pilot project should be continued
and expanded to other school districts in the state.

Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION; TELEHEALTH PILOT PROJECT.

$……. in fiscal year 2025 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of
health to implement and evaluate the telehealth pilot project under section 1. This
appropriation does not cancel and is available until December 31, 2025.

 

For Sunday here’s a longer story on the value of broadband. It’s a reminder for those of us who can take broadband for granted and a moment to commiserate for those who can’t, from ALS News…

As my husband Todd’s ALS progressed, trips to the doctor’s office became increasingly difficult. When he was still walking, we used to travel four hours from northern Michigan through Wisconsin to the closest ALS clinic in Duluth, Minnesota. We turned those trips into mini-vacations, bringing the kids along and meeting up with Todd’s family. The kids enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool, eating out, and visiting a toy store. We toured the North Shore of Lake Superior and visited Gooseberry Falls State Park.

We found value in meeting with the different specialists, and we were able to attend an ALS support group. We always learned something that made the trip worthwhile.

We continued going to the Duluth clinic even after Todd was in a wheelchair. We made arrangements for a Hoyer floor lift to be available at the hotel, and I’d use that to transfer Todd into bed and onto the toilet. But as valuable as the clinic was, the ride to get there became too difficult.

I inquired about using telehealth, but the neurologist didn’t have a license to practice in Michigan. So I contacted an ALS clinic in Michigan, but was told that we’d first need to have an in-person visit. If we couldn’t make a four-hour trip to Duluth, we certainly couldn’t travel eight hours downstate. And even if we could have established a relationship in person, telehealth might not have been practical, because back in 2016, we didn’t have reliable internet at our home.

(Read more)