Rural Health Care

All five Federal Communications Commissioners testified at a Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing. Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said the hearing was an opportunity for Commissioners to discuss what more can be done to expand broadband access and digital opportunity for all Americans.

Democratic congressional staffers are signaling fresh optimism that some money for broadband will make it into another coronavirus relief package long mulled on Capitol Hill. Republicans are “proceeding politically a little more cautiously right now” in deference to GOP leadership, but “we know privately that there are Republicans that would be very supportive of spending more money on E-Rate or Lifeline or Rural Healthcare,” said Joey Wender, senior policy adviser to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).

On March 21, 2020 Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the FCC to immediately loosen requirements of the Rural Health Care Program (RHCP) to expand eligibility to more healthcare facilities. They wrote, "Following Hurricane Katrina, the FCC loosened restrictions on the RHCP to allow non-rural providers to apply for support under the program.

The Federal Communications Commission in April estimated that 22.3% of Americans in rural areas and 27.7% of Americans on tribal lands don’t have access to fixed broadband with the typical speed standard of 25 megabits per second (mbps), a moderate browsing speed. By comparison, only 1.5% of Americans in urban areas can’t reach that speed. Nearly 21% of Americans also aren’t active smartphone users, according to market research.

Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Angus King (I-Maine), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Health Care Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act. The new bipartisan bill directs $2 billion to help health care providers increase their broadband capacity and expand telehealth services during the current public health crisis. The Health Care Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act would:

In a statement to the House Commerce Committee, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency has received around 2,200 complaints related to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Of those complaints, 1,400 have received a response from the carrier, Chairman Pai said. Around 500 of those total complaints were filed specifically about the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected Pledge, the agency’s primary response to the pandemic.

On May 12, House Democrats unveiled the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. "We are presenting a plan to do what is necessary to address the corona crisis," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she announced the legislation.

Sen Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a bipartisan group of senators to urge the leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives to include $2 billion in the next coronavirus relief package to help health care providers expand telehealth services by improving their access to broadband. The senators are calling for $2 billion in additional funding to the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program, the only federal program that supports broadband deployment at urban and rural health care provider locations.

On March 19, 2020, Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the FCC to take action to ensure that all K-12 students in Minnesota have access to high-speed internet so they can continue their education while schools are closed in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The principles we need to connect us were enshrined by a Republican-led Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In the legislation, overwhelmingly approved by both Republicans and Democrats, the law mandates that the Federal Communications Commission to base policies for the preservation and advancement of universal service on principles including: