The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an additional 100 applications for funding commitments totaling $47.89 million for its COVID-19 Telehealth Program.
This is the FCC’s sixth and final funding announcement of approved Round 2 applications. The FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program supports the efforts of healthcare providers to continue serving their patients by providing reimbursement for telecommunications services, information services, and connected devices necessary to enable telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has forced us to think differently about how to deliver healthcare services and the FCC has risen to the challenge through a number of telehealth programs, including our COVID-19 Telehealth Program,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “From offering remote behavioral health services in Decatur, Illinois to supporting the underinsured and those living below the poverty line in Dade City, Florida, the healthcare providers announced today offer just a snapshot of the breadth of connected healthcare services this program has helped support in the past year. I want to commend the work of our team in the Wireline Competition Bureau for their dedication to this program that has made such an impact on our nation’s doctors, nurses, and their patients.”
Round 2 is a $249.95 million federal initiative that builds on the $200 million program established as part of the CARES Act. The FCC took action last year to develop a system for rating applications factoring in the hardest-hit and lowest-income areas, Tribal communities, and previously unfunded states and territories. Over the course of two funding rounds, this program has approved 986 awards to providers in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.