Acknowledging that 6-year-old funding program for rural health ca...
Acknowledging that 6-year-old funding program for rural health care hasn’t worked very well, FCC at agenda meeting Thurs. asked for comments on how to improve it. Rural health care (RHC) program, mandated by Telecom Act, was companion to e-rate…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
fund. Both were aimed at broadening availability of advanced services and offered discounted services through use of universal service funds. RHC program envisioned health care clinics’ using federal funds to improve their ability to transfer medical X-rays and other tests over Internet for viewing by distant medical specialists. It’s high time program was reevaluated since only $13 million has been distributed to rural health care providers over last 3 years, Comr. Abernathy said. FCC may have interpreted Telecom Act’s requirements too narrowly and as result too many rural service providers became ineligible for funding, she said. For example, Abernathy said, some rural health care providers have been denied funding because they provide functions beyond health care clinics, such as nursing homes. FCC staff told commissioners they recommended reevaluation because current funding mechanism “has not fully met its potential.” Comr. Copps said program didn’t appear to have “lived up to its potential” since so little was spent and rules should be reviewed “sooner rather than later.” Program has $400 million annual cap. Copps and Chmn. Powell said RHC program had taken on homeland security significance that gave review more urgency. Anthrax scare and related terrorist concerns have heightened importance of sharing medical information, Powell said. Agency said it wanted comments on: (1) How to treat entities that served not only as rural health care providers but had other functions as well. (2) Whether to provide discounts on Internet access charges. (3) Whether to change calculation of discounted services.