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Law360 (March 30, 2020, 6:13 PM EDT) -- The Federal Communications Commission is moving as quickly as possible to distribute $200 million from the recently enacted coronavirus rescue package to support telehealth services, senior FCC officials said Monday.
On a call with reporters, officials said they hope the amount allocated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act can be in providers' hands within a month. Not-for-profit and teaching hospitals will be eligible for the funding, as well as clinics and local health agencies. For-profit hospitals will not be eligible.
"We think this is a reasonable distinction to draw to target those entities that are most in need," an official said.
According to the FCC, the funds will be available through a limited program that will run until the COVID-19 pandemic is over or until the funds are exhausted.
Unlike FCC programs under the Universal Service Fund, the $200 million appropriated through the CARES Act can be spent on both broadband connections for patients and at-home devices that assist with monitoring programs.
Providers that apply to receive the funds may use them to treat COVID-19, as well as to prevent and prepare for the disease. For example, the FCC said facilities that choose to treat other types of diseases remotely are indirectly responding to COVID-19 demands by freeing up resources in brick-and-mortar facilities.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated the proposed guidance on Monday, and commissioners now have the opportunity to review the package and vote on it. A senior official in Pai's office said he believes commissioners can quickly approve the item and secure emergency approval from the Office of Management and Budget. The item would then be published in the Federal Register before it takes effect. Overall, that process would ideally take about a week, the official said.
Providers that apply to receive funding will do so under relaxed rules that don't require competitive bidding — as FCC broadband-funding programs do — and that don't have a firm application cutoff point. Applications will be accepted and granted on a rolling basis, the FCC said.
The FCC on Monday also proposed rules for a longer-term telehealth pilot program that will offer broadband to patients affected by mental health issues, high-risk pregnancies and opioid addiction. Unlike the COVID-19 program, providers must place competitive bids on overlapping projects, and all funding decisions will be made at the same time.
Further, as the three-year, $100 million pilot program will be funded through the Universal Service Fund, it cannot be used to buy take-home devices. Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has led the push for the pilot program since it was announced in 2018.
"I am grateful to Chairman Pai for his leadership in accelerating this important initiative and for fast-tracking a COVID-19 Telehealth Program," Carr said in a statement on Monday. "This decision will further strengthen the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic and help Americans access high-quality health care without having to visit a hospital in person."
--Editing by Nicole Bleier.
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