Las Animas County test model: mobile-assisted treatment, telehealth and no-insurance counseling for rural residents
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Summary
Las Animas County officials described a multi-part program combining mobile-assisted treatment (MAT) van visits, free telehealth counseling and in-clinic follow-up sessions. Officials said the model used a mix of grants and partnerships to provide low-barrier, bilingual care in remote communities.
Trinidad — County officials and partners described a mobile-assisted-treatment (MAT) model and telehealth counseling program that served residents in rural Las Animas County and neighboring areas, offering up to 10 free counseling visits funded through a combination of federal CAMP funding and a Colorado Trust grant.
Tony Haas, a county official who helped build the program, told the Agriculture Behavioral Health Working Group the initiative began after unusually high local overdose numbers and grew through partnerships with the Colorado Farm Bureau, local public-health districts and philanthropic grants. "No insurance is required, and there's a no wrong door approach," Haas said.
Haas described the model’s financing and service mix: the first six counseling sessions were funded through the CAMP program, four additional visits were funded by a Colorado Trust grant, and the county built in the option for an additional 10 sessions when clinically needed. He said services are bilingual (English/Spanish), that residents can access telehealth from home or check out a tablet or hotspot from clinics, and that staff try to keep use of the van and clinic visits discreet in small communities to reduce stigma.
Why it matters: The Las Animas County approach aims to increase access in frontier and rural areas by combining mobile services, telehealth and a short course of funded counseling sessions with local clinics. Presenters said the approach is intended to be low-barrier and privacy-conscious to encourage uptake among agricultural communities that may be reluctant to seek care publicly.
County leaders said they continue to seek sustainable funding to extend the program and urged other rural counties to consider similar hybrid mobile/telehealth models.