Health and Media

Simply and admittedly boldly put, broadband is, I believe, the public health tool, of, our, time. New thinking, innovative cross-sector collaborations, these hold significant promise, for the future of broadband and improved health, in rural America. And I have absolutely no doubt, that government can be a powerful catalyst, to achieving these shared goals for rural America, but as important a player as we are, we cannot do it alone. Each of you in this room, has got to lock arms with us.

The gap between haves and have-nots in American health care isn't just driven by insurance and access to doctors. It’s exacerbated by a deep structural problem: Many poor people suffer from long-term ailments that the system has little financial incentive to treat. But now a New York City start-up thinks it can use Google-level tech savvy to help make progress on that challenge—and save the government money.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, a broad-based membership organization that includes health providers and telehealth networks, filed comments with the Federal Communication Commission asking for an increase in funding for the Rural Health Care (RHC) program to improve the quality of health care in rural markets across the United States.

A group of Silicon Valley technologists who were early employees at Facebook and Google, alarmed over the ill effects of social networks and smartphones, are banding together to challenge the companies they helped build. The cohort is creating a union of concerned experts called the Center for Humane Technology.

Despite years of research, there is still no clear answer to the question: Do cellphones cause cancer? But two government studies, one in rats and one in mice, suggest that if there is any risk, it is small, health officials said. These two studies on the effects of the type of radiation the phones emit, conducted over 10 years and costing $25 million, are considered the most extensive to date.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing in e-connectivity which will provide virtual access to job training, educational, and health care opportunities for rural communities. USDA is awarding 72 grants totaling $23.6 million through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program. This program invests in equipment that uses broadband to help rural communities connect to educational and health care services.

The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in official documents being prepared for the 2018 budget. Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden terms at a meeting Dec 14 with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing.

The Federal Communications Commission launched a review of its Rural Health Care Program to ensure that all communities have access to advanced telehealth services. The FCC is seeking comment on the appropriate level of the RHC Program funding cap. It also explores ways to more efficiently distribute RHC Program funds and combat waste, fraud and abuse. In addition, the FCC waives the RHC Program’s annual cap on a one-time basis for funding year (FY) 2017 to address the impact of the funding cap on RHC Program participants.

The FCC also makes some immediate changes for FY 2017:

The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect2Health Task Force (C2HFCC) announced that the FCC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have joined forces, signing a memorandum of understanding that will focus on how increasing broadband access and adoption in rural areas can improve the lives of rural cancer patients.  As an inaugural project under the memorandum of understanding, the agencies have convened a public-private collaboration to help bridge the broadband health connectivity gap in Appalachia, taking another concrete step toward closing the digital divide.