FCC health care rules overview:
- Who: The FCC is making changes to its Rural Health Care Program.
- Why: The commission is trying to make it easier for rural health care providers to access funding and connectivity to serve their rural patients.
- Where: The FCC rules are applicable in the United States.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is making changes to ensure rural health care providers have the financial support and connectivity to best serve their rural patients after the rate system of one of its funding programs was found to be filled with discrepancies.
On Jan. 26, the FCC announced it had approved four new proposals for its Rural Health Care (RHC) Program to make it easier for health care providers to receive support, reduce delays in funding commitments and improve the overall efficiency of the program.
The FCC’s RHC program provides financial support to eligible health care providers for high-speed broadband connections and telecommunications services in order to expand access to telehealth and telemedicine services in rural areas.
However, a rate structure adopted in 2019 was littered with issues that made the division of funding inefficient and unfair, the FCC said. For example, in California, a 50 Mbps connection was listed as less expensive than 20 Mbps.
The newly-approved proposals respond to action points like this brought up in the August 2019 report on the program.
In a 4-0 vote, the commission passed an overhaul that will drop the controversial rate structure — and go back to the rates used before that time — while it develops new rules for funding providers doing telehealth services.
FCC staff said it has also added a waiver for the 2024 and 2025 funding years to allow providers time to adjust to the changes.
FCC also seeks comment for future changes
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the new proposals would help the Rural Health Care Program by getting rid of a rate system that was filled with discrepancies in funding amounts.
“A few years ago, here in Washington, this agency got ahead of itself,” she said.
“It tried to ‘fix’ the Telecom Program by setting up a series of databases designed to tell communities exactly what communications services should cost. But this ‘fix’ was littered with anomalies.”
Reliable high-speed connectivity is critical for rural health care providers to serve patients in rural areas that often have limited resources, fewer doctors and higher rates for broadband and telecommunications services than urban areas, the FCC said.
It will also continue “fine tuning” the rules for determining rural and urban rates in the RHC Telecom Program, it said, and will be making it easier for health care providers to receive RHC Program funding as soon as they become eligible. The FCC is seeking comment on these action points.
The FCC has ruled in the past on other issues affecting consumers.
The FCC ruled in 2022 that callers must obtain a consumer’s consent before delivering a “ringless voicemail,” a message left in a consumer’s mailbox without ringing their cellphone.
What do you think of the FCC’s changes to the RHC Program? Let us know in the comments.
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