Chairman Pai Response Regarding the Rural Health Care Program

On July 20, 2019, 13 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to postpone adoption of a reform order of the Rural Health Care Program that was on the agenda for the FCC's Aug 1, 2019 meeting. The senators claimed the Report and Order "fails to six many of the key issues that must be resolved for the program to operate smoothly." "The proposal, for instance, does not address the need for more funding, set forth the methodology for calculating the rural and urban rates, nor provide adequate maps to determine the rural area boundaries needed to determine pricing," they wrote. 

On Oct 15, 2019, Chairman Pai wrote that in a June 2018 Order, the FCC "adopted the first increase to the program's budget in a generation." "Thanks to these measures, all supported services provided to rural health care provides in the Rural Health Care Program in FY 2018 were fully funded." Further, Chairman Pai wrote that the "we must always ensure that scarce federal funds are being well spent," and that the Aug Report and Order "promotes efficient distribution of limited RHC Program funds, and increases transparency and predictability for Program participants."