FCC Seeks Input on Next Round of COVID-19 Telehealth Program

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau issued a request for comment on how to administer Round 2 of the agency’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which received an additional $249.95 million in support as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The FCC seeks public input on the metrics the commission should use to evaluate applications for this round of funding, how the commission should treat applications that were filed during the initial funding round provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and additional program improvements. The program was designed to help health care providers offer telehealth and connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the initial funding round, the FCC committed $200 million.

The FCC seeks input on application evaluation metrics, how to address applications filed during the initial round that did not receive funding, and additional program improvements. This includes such questions as: Should we target funding to hardest hit areas and how should the “hardest hit” areas be defined? Given the changing landscape of the pandemic in recent months, how should previous, unfunded applications be addressed? And are there lessons learned from the initial round of the program that could lead to program improvements?