U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., met with local health care workers and telecommunications executives in Brainerd on Wednesday to see what possible federal measures could help rural broadband and telemedicine.
Franken held a roundtable at Consolidated Telecommunications Company offices, where attendees gave testimony on how broadband could help improve the health of the business community and the health of people themselves.
Matt Kilian, president of the Brainerd Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, said although the majority of chamber members were fiscally conservative, they were unified behind the idea of helping foster rural broadband development because it helps business grow.
"You have communities that are at an immediate disadvantage for economic development because a business won't start up or expand if there's not broadband access," he said. "I don't think it happens without some type of incentive or subsidy."
Maureen Ideker, Director of Telehealth for Essentia Health, talked about how rural doctors use broadband for telemedicine, or health care conducted via phone, internet and video conferencing. For example, doctors can help detect congestive heart failure by having patients regularly weigh themselves and send in the results via the web, she said. If the data shows a weight gain of several pounds in just a few days, that could mean the patient's heart isn't functioning property. Telemedicine helps patients limit health care expenses and travel, and it allows them more freedom in their living situations, she said.
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"There's a lot of money to be saved," she said. "(It keeps) patients in their homes longer."
Medicare should allow reimbursement for more types of telemedicine providers, including audiologists, pharmacists, and speech pathologists, she said. A bill recently passed by the Minnesota Legislature on telemedicine would serve as an excellent template for nationwide Medicare reform, she said.
Franken, who serves as Co-Chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, said a telecommunications bill was being designed for introduction in the fall.
He told reporters after the meeting that broadband is an essential utility.
"This is necessary, this is something that now is part of everyday life," Franken said. "Just like you need water and sewer and you need electricity, you need Internet in order to conduct your life."
Subsidies would likely be included in the bill, but limits would be in place to make sure they don't go to the huge telecom giants, he said.
"That's always an issue, making sure that the very, very large incumbents don't control everything, that we have a competitive structure out there," he said.
The measure stands to gain bipartisan support since many Republicans in the Senate come from rural states where new broadband networks are needed, Franken said.
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ZACH KAYSER may be reached at 218-855-5860 or Zach.Kayser@brainerddispatch.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZWKayser .
