Telehealth

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 53 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $16.46 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which was authorized by the CARES Act, has approved funding for 238 health care providers in 41 states plus Washington, D.C. for a total of $84.96 million in funding.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS ASPR) is providing an additional $250 million to aid US health care systems treating patients and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Social determinants of health” is a hot topic among government and health system executives. The phrase usually refers to basic food, housing and transportation disparities that can lead adjoining ZIP codes to have drastically different life expectancies. But could lack of broadband Internet access also be considered a social determinant of health?

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 approved an additional 53 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $18.22 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which was authorized by the CARES Act, has approved funding for 185 health care providers in 38 states plus Washington, DC for a total of $68.22 million in funding. Below is a list of health care providers that were approved for funding:

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.

On April 27, 2020, a group of representatives, led by Congressional Native American Caucus Co-Chairs Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Tom Cole (R-OK), wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging the FCC to "grant Tribal Nations and their eligible tribal entities an emergency Special Temporary Authority (STA) to employ the use, on a secondary non-interference basis, of 2.5 GHz spectrum and other efficient, available, and cost effective spectrum on all tribal lands to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its current and future effects in Indian Country."

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:

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 43 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $16.87 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which was authorized by the CARES Act, has approved funding for 132 health care providers in 33 states plus Washington, DC for a total of just over $50 million in funding. 

An interview with House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR).