Breaking: FCC Commissioners Approve Funding Increase for Rural Telehealth Program

The Federal Communications Commission commissioners have voted unanimously to approve Chairman Ajit Pai’s order that will increase funding for the Rural Health Care Program by $171 million, as urged by the AHA. “This money will help health care providers get the connectivity they need to better serve patients throughout rural America,” Pai said earlier this month when announcing the order. “Demand for funding has been outpacing the program’s funding cap, so I also believe that the increased cap should apply to the current funding year so that rural health care providers can be fully reimbursed.” The FCC will increase the program’s annual cap to $571 million. The increase represents what the funding level would be today had the cap, which was established in 1997, included an inflation adjustment. The order also will adjust the cap annually for inflation and allow unused funds from prior years to be carried forward to future years.