Telehealth

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.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),k awarded $15 million to 159 organizations across five health workforce programs to increase telehealth capabilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These awards are funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The Federal Communications Commission approved an additional 33 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $8.36 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 funded 82 health care providers in 30 states for a total of $33.26 million in funding.

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.

A letter to the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress advocates for increased rural infrastructure funding in any future COVID-19 relief packages. The 258 local, state and national organizations called on Congress to “Ensure that our rural communities have access to: clean and safe drinking water and wastewater facilities, secure and dependable surface transportation, reliable and affordable power, healthcare, housing, and broadband and research institutions with state-of-the-art facilities, in order to thrive and attract future generations.

Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is now accepting applications from eligible grantees for  Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) supplemental funds (EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance) intended to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the $2 trillion CARES Act into law. The CARES Act provides EDA with $1.5 billion of which $1.467 billion is available for grant making.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau approved an additional 26 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $11.19 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 funded 56 health care providers in 23 states for a total of $24.9 million in funding.

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 Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau adopted a conditional waiver to allow TerreStar to begin offering wireless medical telemetry services (WMTS) in the 1.4 GHz band. With the COVID-19 outbreak causing increased reliance on medical telemetry monitoring in hospitals and on telehealth in general, this action will help ensure that traditional health care facilities have more spectrum capacity to meet a surge of additional monitoring demands that may occur in emergencies.