Telehealth

The job of VA’s Office of Rural Health (ORH) is to increase access to care for the nearly three million Veterans living in rural communities who rely on VA for health care. “Telehealth is a game-changer for rural Veterans,” said Dr. Thomas Klobucar, ORH Executive Director. “It breaks through the barriers of cost, time, and distance. Bringing rehabilitation services to the Veteran’s living room can connect patients with the care they might otherwise struggle to receive.”

The Benton Foundation unequivocally opposes any proposals from the Federal Communications Commission that would allow the FCC to shirk its responsibilities to meet its Congressionally-mandated mission. The FCC is supposed to ensure:

South Carolina is expanding access to telemedicine — or, put broadly, health care done via the internet. This virtual way of seeing a doctor or managing health is seen as a solution to deteriorating health care services in rural parts of the state. SC’s government has spent $68 million in one-time commitments since 2013 on telemedicine. But it’s no secret that progress is stunted if people don’t have internet access. Some 537,000 people in South Carolina don’t have an adequate internet connection at home — about 11 percent of the state’s population, and 26 percent of the rural population.

The funding year (FY) 2019 application filing window for the Rural Health Care Universal Service Support Mechanism (RHC Program) opened on February 1, 2019 and will run through May 31, 2019. To assist eligible health care providers participating in the RHC Telecom Program as they compile their applications for FY2019, this Public Notice provides guidance on complying with program rules, including the FCC’s rules for determining rural rates.

Two years ago I wrote that community broadband builders have two options for network deployment: they could use the problem-solving approach or the creation orientation approach. The problem-solving approach is typical when people deal with the government. The goal is often to make something go away.

A bill in the North Dakota Senate would require patients to do a video or in-person examination for their initial visit with a telemedicine provider. In 2017, the North Dakota Board of Medicine drafted a rule that would require a video exam or face-to-face visit for the patient's first telemedicine appointment. But the rule was shot down by the state legislature's Administrative Rules Committee in March. Committee members stated that the rule was "arbitrary and capricious," according to meeting minutes.

Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) lifted his hold on Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr after the agency promised to prioritize rolling out funding for wireless broadband in rural areas. Sen Manchin announced the hold on Commissioner Carr the week of Dec 10 after the FCC announced it would pause the funding program while it conducts an investigation into coverage data submitted by major wireless carriers.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been aggressively implementing telehealth services. And at the Federal Communications Commission, we’ve been working to seize the opportunities of connected health for all Americans, including veterans. So it’s fitting that we gather this morning to reaffirm our shared belief that telemedicine can improve the quality of health care that our veterans receive. We can’t realize the promise of telehealth without connectivity. This is one of the reasons that, since day one as FCC Chairman, my top priority has been closing the digital divide.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, flanked by advisers, spent roughly two hours in Sen. Dan Sullivan’s office, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy the concerns that have prompted Sen Sullivan (R-AK) to block FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s nomination to a full term. "I’m not lifting it right now,” said Sen Sullivan after the meeting. He said more follow-up is necessary and that he will make that decision about Commissioner Carr later. Sen Sullivan has longstanding concerns about the flow of subsidies in the FCC’s rural health care program.