In Colorado’s 2020 legislative session, the Senate Health & Human Services committee passed SB-002: Increase Medical Providers for Seniors on a 4-1 vote today. SB-002 tackles one of Colorado’s most pressing issues — the lack of health care available to our state’s aging population. This bill aims to increase the number of medical providers available to senior citizens by offering education incentives for geriatric care providers.
With a sharp rise in Colorado’s aging senior population in the coming decades, Colorado faces a severe shortage of geriatric medical providers available to take care of their growing medical needs. Without health care readily available for this aging population, it can often mean the difference between life and death for them.
“Our growing senior population deserves compassionate and capable health care, but right now Colorado simply doesn’t have enough physicians to care for them,” bill sponsor Sen. Jessie Danielson said. “We need to work proactively to stem this growing issue now. This bill helps address the problem by incentivizing great providers to pursue great careers in geriatric care.”
Colorado’s 65+ population will increase by 40% between by 2030, and will only continue to grow from there. There’s already a shortage of at least 200 medical care providers trained to work with seniors, and that gap will only continue to grow.
SB-022 helps address this gap.
This bill aids critical shortages in Colorado by expanding the Colorado Health Service Corps loan repayment program to advanced practice nurses, physicians assistants, and other providers who practice geriatric primary care in our state’s shortage areas, including rural areas and underserved parts of our state.
For more information about SB20-022, please click here.