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April 2026
🚑 Spring Momentum: Committees at Work, Region Moving Forward
April is a busy month across the region. Committees are active, collaborative efforts are gaining shape, and legislation affecting EMS is moving through the Capitol. This edition highlights the work your colleagues are doing to strengthen how our system operates, and where your voice and participation matter most right now.
NCRETAC’s strength comes from the people who show up. Whether that means completing a survey, forwarding this newsletter to a fire department contact, or attending a session at the Eastern Plains EMS Conference, every contribution builds the regional foundation that rural EMS depends on.
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NCRETAC
Regional Training, CME, Events & Updates
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Clinical & Professional Standards
Help Shape How Our Region Uses Air Medical Resources
The Clinical and Professional Standards Committee has launched a regional survey on helicopter EMS utilization. The goal is straightforward: understand how HEMS resources are requested, used, and documented across Northeast Colorado so the region can identify gaps, improve consistency, and support better patient outcomes.
This is your opportunity to contribute real operational data. Whether you work in dispatch, on an ambulance, at a hospital, or in agency leadership, your perspective matters. The survey is brief and focused.
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Please share this survey with anyone in your area who may not receive this newsletter directly, including fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and hospital partners. If you are a fire or law enforcement leader reading this, your agency’s experience with HEMS requests is exactly what this effort needs.
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Survey Details
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| Survey |
HEMS Utilization and Performance Regional Survey |
| Deadline |
April 27, 2026 at 10:00 AM |
| Questions |
[email protected] |
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Regional Updates
Helicopter EMS Utilization & Performance Task Force – Work Underway
The NCRETAC Board authorized a task force under the Clinical and Professional Standards Committee to evaluate how air medical resources are requested and used across the region. The task force has held its kickoff meeting and is now moving into active work.
The group brings together EMS agencies, dispatch centers, medical directors, trauma partners, and air medical programs to examine utilization patterns, data gaps, and decision-making consistency across the region. It may develop practical tools such as a regional HEMS dashboard, request taxonomy, or decision-support matrix if members find value in them.
The next meeting is April 29 at 10:00 AM via Microsoft Teams. If you are interested in participating, contact Nick at [email protected].
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Next Meeting
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| Date |
April 29, 2026 at 10:00 AM |
| Format |
Microsoft Teams |
| Join |
Click to join | ID: 261 400 650 398 67 | Passcode: vq6AX3tt |
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Colorado RISE Collaborative
Colorado RISE Collaborative
Rural Integration for System Enhancement
Colorado is receiving just over $200 million per year for five years through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, authorized under H.R. 1. The state is expected to open the grant application process soon. That is a significant opportunity for rural systems of care, and the window to organize around it is now.
RETAC Executive Directors across the state have been meeting to discuss how EMS, trauma, and regional emergency care systems can be meaningfully included in RHTP planning and proposal development. To give that effort a shared identity and practical structure, this work has been named the Colorado RISE Collaborative. This is not a new organization. It is a coordinating framework for partners across Colorado who want to work together on RHTP-related priorities, proposal development, and longer-term rural system alignment.
NCRETAC represents nine counties, the largest regional footprint of any RETAC in Colorado. Our region has a strong stake in how this funding is allocated and how rural emergency care systems are represented in the proposals that move forward. Workgroups are forming now.
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Survey Results Presentation
Regional priority needs results and proposed workgroup structure.
View Presentation → |
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Workgroup Descriptions and Draft Charters
Major topic areas, participation guidance, and how workgroups will operate.
View Charter Document → |
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HCPF Rural Health Transformation Program
Colorado’s official RHTP page including eligibility, permissible uses, and advisory committee information.
Visit HCPF RHTP Page → |
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Health & Wellness
The Northeast Colorado Regional Peer Support Team Is Taking Shape
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Connected in Strength. United in Support.
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The Health and Wellness Committee is actively supporting development of the Northeast Colorado Regional Peer Support Team (NCRPST). Building a peer support network across a rural region takes time, coordination, and trust. The NCRPST is designed to serve the full range of frontline workers who carry this work, including EMS providers, emergency department staff, 9-1-1 telecommunicators, law enforcement, coroners, district attorneys, and rescue personnel.
That work is underway, and it now has an identity to match, including a new logo reflecting the team’s regional presence and purpose.
This is also the beginning of something larger. NCRETAC is launching a dedicated section of our website focused on frontline health and wellness, with resources, information, and engagement tools built for the people who do this work. The first page is live now, with additional pages releasing soon.
If you have lost a colleague, or if your agency has been carrying a difficult year, we want to make sure those stories are not forgotten. NCRETAC’s Frontline Wellness and In Memoriam page is now live and accepting submissions.
Peer support works when people know it exists. Share this with your crew.
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Advocacy Corner
At the Capitol
State budget pressures and ongoing Medicaid uncertainty continue to create headwinds for rural EMS sustainability. Reimbursement rates, administrative requirements, and workforce costs do not get easier when funding is unpredictable. The bills moving through the Capitol this session reflect both the challenges and the opportunities ahead for rural systems of care.
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NCRETAC at the Capitol
The legislative session is in its final stretch, and Northeast Colorado has been represented well. NCRETAC staff and board members have been engaged throughout this session, and that engagement is showing results.
The EMS Essential Services bill has passed both chambers of the Colorado legislature and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature. This is a significant milestone for EMS in Colorado and a direct result of sustained regional and statewide advocacy. We will share more as the Governor acts.
Also signed into law this week: Governor Polis signed SB 26-053, a bipartisan bill expanding access to affordable homeownership for Colorado first responders. The law expands mortgage assistance eligibility to include peace officers, firefighters, EMTs, and other public safety professionals. The Governor noted: “The people who serve our communities can afford to live in them.” This is a concrete win for first responder workforce sustainability across the state.
Representative Dusty Johnson recently published an op-ed in Colorado Politics making the case directly: EMS is essential infrastructure and must be treated as such by state legislators. That kind of public advocacy reflects ongoing relationship-building and the credibility that comes from showing up consistently.
Read Rep. Johnson’s Op-Ed → |
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Primary Bill – Action Needed
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HB 26-1069 – Statewide EMS Policy
A bill currently moving through the Colorado legislature contains language that NCRETAC is closely monitoring. Most of the bill addresses important and broadly supported improvements to EMS, including Medicaid reimbursement for treatment without transport and telemedicine-assisted field care. Those provisions are good for rural Colorado.
What concerns us is a separate provision that would significantly reduce the role of the State Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Advisory Council (SEMTAC). Under current law, SEMTAC must formally approve new EMS rules before they take effect. This bill would replace that approval authority with an advisory role only and place the council under direct CDPHE supervision. In plain terms, SEMTAC would go from having a real say in how EMS rules are made to simply being consulted.
This matters to our region because NCRETAC has the most counties of any RETAC in Colorado and the strongest regional representation on SEMTAC. The existing structure gives practitioners, hospitals, medical directors, and community leaders across our nine counties a formal voice in statewide EMS policy before it becomes binding. That is not a procedural detail. It is how regional realities get built into rules that govern care delivery across places as different as Jackson County and Weld County.
NCRETAC is actively engaged on this issue and working with partners across the state through the appropriate legislative channels. We will keep member counties and partners informed as this moves forward.
Read HB 26-1069 |
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If You Plan to Testify
• State your name, agency, and the community you serve.
• Be specific about how the bill affects your agency or patients.
• Keep written comments to one page or less.
• Focus on operational reality, not politics.
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Bills to Watch
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HB 26-1290 – Criminal Offense of Assault
Increases criminal penalties for assault against a healthcare worker in any setting. Passed House Second Reading with amendments April 16. Third Reading scheduled April 20.
Why this matters for rural EMS: Field providers in rural areas often work without backup. Stronger legal protections support workforce retention and safety.
Read HB 26-1290 |
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HB 26-1300 – Health Service District Affordable Housing Service
Allows health service districts to provide affordable housing services. Assigned to Senate Local Government & Housing. Hearing April 22.
Why this matters for rural EMS: Recruitment and retention in rural communities is directly tied to housing availability. This bill gives districts a practical new tool to address that barrier.
Read HB 26-1300 |
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HB 26-1412 – HCPF Statistical Sampling & Extrapolation
Governs how the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing uses statistical sampling and extrapolation in Medicaid audits and billing reviews. In conference committee after the House declined to concur with Senate amendments. Floor April 20.
Why this matters for rural EMS: Sampling methodologies used in Medicaid audits can generate large repayment demands for rural providers with small billing volumes.
Read HB 26-1412 |
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SB 26-060 – Mental Health Training in Concussion Education
Adds mental health components to concussion education requirements. Passed Senate Third Reading with amendments. House Floor April 20.
Why this matters for rural EMS: Broader mental health literacy across healthcare and education systems supports the populations EMS serves and the providers themselves.
Read SB 26-060 |
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SB 26-070 – Ban Government Access to Historical Location Information Database
Restricts government access to historical location data. In Senate Appropriations. Hearing April 21.
Why this matters for rural EMS: Location data is increasingly used in emergency dispatch and response systems. Providers should understand how this bill may affect data practices in their agencies.
Read SB 26-070 |
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SB 26-138 – Reducing Administrative Burdens on Health Care
Requires all healthcare-related administrative rules to be reviewed every five years for efficiency, accuracy, and continued relevance. Senate Health & Human Services. Hearing April 23, 1:30 PM.
Why this matters for rural EMS: Outdated regulations create compliance costs that fall harder on small rural agencies. EMSAC has recommended support for this bill.
Read SB 26-138 |
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SB 26-149 – Pathways for Individuals with Mental Health Disorders
Addresses legal pathways for individuals with mental health disorders who enter the criminal justice system, with direct implications for how EMS and behavioral health interact in the field. Laid over unamended in Senate Judiciary after amendment failure April 13. Hearing April 20, 1:30 PM, Old Supreme Court.
Why this matters for rural EMS: EMS providers regularly encounter individuals in mental health crisis. What systems exist to receive those patients shapes how field encounters unfold. EMSAC has asked for field feedback on this bill.
Read SB 26-149 |
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EMSAC Bill Tracker
EMSAC maintains a full list of bills under review this session, updated as bills move and positions develop. If your agency is not yet tracking this session’s legislation, the tracker is a practical starting point.
View the EMSAC Bill Tracker |
Rural EMS providers are not a large voting bloc at the Capitol, but we are specific and credible. When field providers show up with operational perspective, it is noticed. Stay informed and stay engaged.
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State Budget & System Pressure
What the Budget Means for Rural EMS
Colorado’s current budget cycle continues to create uncertainty for Medicaid-dependent programs, including EMS. Rural agencies that rely heavily on Medicaid reimbursement for transport and community paramedicine services face the steepest risk when rates are held flat or programs are restructured.
This is not a political observation. It is an operational one. When reimbursement does not keep pace with the cost of maintaining a rural crew, the math gets harder every year. The bills in this session, particularly those affecting HCPF auditing practices and administrative burden, reflect an ongoing effort to make the system more workable for providers who do not have the margin to absorb policy inefficiency.
The Colorado RISE Collaborative and the Rural Health Transformation Program represent a countervailing opportunity. Federal investment at this scale, directed specifically at rural systems, does not come often. NCRETAC intends to make sure our region is positioned to benefit from it.
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Federal Updates
119th Congress – Bills to Watch
Federal legislation affecting EMS continues to move through the 119th Congress, with several bills of direct relevance to rural and community EMS building bipartisan support.
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S.1643 / H.R.2232 – Medicare Ambulance Extenders
Extends Medicare ambulance fee schedule add-ons that offset low reimbursement rates for rural and low-volume providers. Essential to the financial viability of rural EMS transport.
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H.R.4011 – Community Paramedicine Act
Would authorize Medicare reimbursement for community paramedicine and mobile integrated health programs. Directly relevant to any agency exploring expanded scope models.
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S.3730 / H.R.7277 – EMS ROCs Act
Supports EMS research through a network of regional centers of excellence, building the national evidence base for prehospital care.
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H.R.2196 / S.2546 – EMS Memorial
Establishes a national EMS memorial. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ordered the bill reported favorably December 2025. H.R.2196 has been received in the Senate.
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H.R.2531 / S.1232 – Workplace Violence Prevention
Would require healthcare employers to develop and implement workplace violence prevention plans covering EMS providers.
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H.R.2220 – PARA-EMT Act
Would expand the role of paramedics and EMTs in Medicare-covered services, supporting workforce flexibility in rural and underserved areas.
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Policy Context & Reading
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Calendar
Upcoming Dates
| Apr 20 |
HB 26-1290 Third Reading
House Floor, 10:00 AM |
| Apr 20 |
SB 26-149 Hearing
Senate Judiciary, 1:30 PM, Old Supreme Court |
| Apr 21 |
NCRETAC Board of Directors Meeting
Noon |
| Apr 21 |
SB 26-070 Hearing
Senate Appropriations, 8:00 AM, LSB B |
| Apr 22 |
HB 26-1300 Hearing
Senate Local Government & Housing, Upon Adjournment, SCR 357 |
| Apr 23 |
SB 26-138 Hearing
Senate Health & Human Services, 1:30 PM, Old Supreme Court |
| Apr 24 |
RHTP Advisory Committee Meeting
2:00–4:00 PM via Zoom |
| Apr 27 |
HEMS Survey Deadline – 10:00 AM
Complete the survey before this date |
| Apr 29 |
HEMS Task Force Meeting
10:00 AM via Teams – [email protected] to participate |
| Upcoming |
Eastern Plains EMS Conference
Priority registration open now |
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This newsletter reaches EMS, fire, law enforcement, hospital, and public health partners across Northeast Colorado. If a colleague in your area is not receiving it, please encourage them to subscribe.
Questions or submissions: [email protected]
ncretac.org
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