Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) recently announced that he will prioritize providing easier access to health care and broadband internet services, particularly in rural communities, during the upcoming 2022 legislative session.

“New York’s rural communities have long dealt with unique struggles that continue to receive insufficient attention from the state government,” Assemblyman Jones said. “Rural health care providers suffer from high operating costs and a lack of state aid, while access to broadband in rural communities is hampered by unnecessary fees and bureaucratic roadblocks. I’ll always fight for legislation that addresses and alleviates these issues for the health and safety of North Country families.”

Currently, travel and delivery reimbursement rates for rural home health care providers do not adequately cover the costs of the services, as travel times are generally longer than they would be in larger cities. Assemblyman Jones’ bill would amend this oversight by increasing the Medicaid reimbursement rate for rural home health care providers to cover actual transportation costs (A.802). Additionally, current state law does not allow fire departments to recover costs from providing emergency medical services, forcing many to stop offering these lifesaving services due to the increased cost. To remedy this, Jones has sponsored legislation that would allow fire departments to recover these costs (A.534). Similarly, to help EMS agencies have greater access to funding opportunities, Jones sponsored a bill that would classify emergency medical services as “essential services” (A.8395).

In an increasingly virtual world, it’s critical that all New Yorkers have access to broadband internet services not only for entertainment, but for job opportunities, school assignments and doctor’s visits, Jones noted. A recent report by the state comptroller found that 19.3% of households in the North Country lack reliable broadband access. In order to remove a potential roadblock to rural broadband access, Jones has cosponsored a bill prohibiting fees for the use and occupancy of the state right of way in an agreement with a fiberoptic provider (A.8287) and introduced a bill that would prohibit charging these fees for fiberoptic broadband projects funded by the federal government (Bill # Pending). Fiberoptic providers are the only utilities that are required to pay these additional fees.