Healthcare Facilities

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition published its 2022 Policy Roadmap, outlining the 10 policy priorities that shape its advocacy in 2022. In brief, the SHLB Coalition will focus on the following policy priorities in 2022: 

The Federal Communications Commission announced its fourth and final set of approved Connected Care Pilot Program projects. These 16 projects were approved for a total of $29,752,601 in funding. With the newly selected projects, the Connected Care Pilot Program is set to fund 107 projects serving patients in 40 states plus Washington (DC). The following projects were approved by the FCC:

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announces the E-Rate and Rural Health Care (RHC) programs’ funding caps for funding year 2022. The new caps represent a 4.2% inflation-adjusted increase in each program cap from funding year 2021. The E-Rate program funding cap for funding year 2022 is $4,456,460,992. The new cap represents a 4.2% inflation-adjusted increase in the $4,276,833,965 cap from funding year 2021.

Recent years have seen an explosion in demand for telehealth services, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, that has increased the bandwidth needs of rural health care providers. The Federal Communications Commission is proposing changes to its Rural Health Care Program rules that are designed to ensure that rural healthcare providers receive the funding necessary to access broadband and telecommunications services to provide vital healthcare services.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on further reforms to the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program rules to promote program efficiency and ensure that rural healthcare providers receive appropriate levels of funding. Specifically, the FCC is seeking comment on several facets of the RHC Program including:

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requests input from community health stakeholders, technology developers, and other interested parties about how digital health technologies are used, or could be used in the future, to transform community health, individual wellness, and health equity.

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 68 applications for funding commitments totaling $42,702,383 for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program. This is the FCC’s fifth funding announcement of approved Round 2 applications, bringing the total to over $208 million awarded to healthcare providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia. Below is a list of health care providers that were approved for funding in this fifth funding wave:

This research report examines changes in Medicare fee-for-service Part B visits and use of telehealth in 2020 during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) by beneficiary characteristics, provider specialty, and location. The analysis found that Medicare in-person visits dropped while telehealth visits increased significantly at the start of the pandemic. Subsequently, telehealth visits declined before plateauing by the end of 2020.  Visits to behavioral health specialists showed the largest increase in telehealth. Most telehealth visits were from the beneficiary's home.

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 75 applications for funding commitments totaling $42,163,705 for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program. This is the FCC’s fourth funding announcement of approved Round 2 applications, bringing the total to approximately $166.13 million awarded to health care providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia, and completing the first phase of Round 2 of the Program.

Sens Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the bipartisan Expanded Telehealth Access Act. During COVID-19, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded access to telehealth services to a range of health care providers, and this legislation would permanently expand that eligibility.