Despite last-minute opposition from lawmakers, the FCC didn't pull from Thursday's meeting agenda an order on overhauling the way it subsidizes participants in its Rural Health Care (RHC) program (see 1907310055). Industry stakeholders also had asked for a delay or revisions to the draft in docket 17-310, which will adjust the way rates are determined when providing telehealth subsidies to rural healthcare providers (see 1907230005).
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., led a bipartisan letter Tuesday with 11 other senators urging the FCC to delay its planned Thursday vote on a rural telehealth report and order that would in part revamp the USF Rural Health Care Program's payment distribution and create a database of payment rates based on geography (see 1907120003). Rural healthcare providers (RHCPs) and the telecom companies that service them have also sought a vote delay or revision of the FCC proposal (see 1907230005). “The proposal neither provides sufficient guidance to applicants nor addresses several of the” existing RHCPs' “key issues, and will ultimately lead to increased confusion and funding delays for rural health care applicants and providers,” the lawmakers wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The other senators signing the letter were 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bennet of Colorado; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Angus King, I-Maine; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Tom Udall, D-N.M. The existing “lack of sufficient funding” for the RHC program, “combined with a lack of program rules concerning its allocation, has led to substantial delays for rural health care providers seeking to increase their telemedicine capabilities,” the senators said. The proposal “does not address the need for more funding, set forth the methodology for calculating the rural and urban rates, nor provide adequate maps to determine the rural area boundaries needed to determine pricing. Instead, it delegates rate-setting to” the Universal Service Administrative Co., “an entity that does not have relevant subject matter expertise.”
Comments are due Aug. 28 at the FCC on a new matching program to help verify USF Lifeline eligibility of applicants and subscribers, said a notice in the Federal Register Monday. The National Verifier program launch was criticized because much of the data hasn't been widely available through an accessible, national database (see 1907080009). The FCC, Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services matching program is to begin Aug. 28 "unless written comments are received that require a contrary determination," and to end Jan. 29, 2021.
Opposition poured in to an FCC proposal to cap the overall budget for the various USF programs and to combine the budget cap for two mechanisms to fund anchor institutions, in comments posted through Tuesday to docket 06-122. Stakeholders said such a plan would be difficult to implement and contradicts both the USF mission and the current FCC chairman's top priority to close the digital divide (see 1906030059).
Comments are due Aug. 29, replies Sept. 30 for an FCC NPRM on a USF pilot program to support connected care for low-income Americans and veterans, says a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register and on docket 18-213. The three-year, $100 million program received broad support (see 1907100073).
Visiting the FCC eighth floor doesn’t have as much of a “dramatic impact” for the targets of enforcement proceedings as it can have in rulemakings, said Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold in an FCBA brown-bag session Monday. Harold said she has regular meetings with commissioners and occasionally informs them of bureau proceedings to keep them from being surprised. Targets of enforcement actions only sometimes inform the Enforcement Bureau about eighth-floor visits, she said. “It doesn’t always happen,” Harold said.
California's Education Department opposes FCC-proposed USF changes (see 1905310069), saying a single funding cap would “not facilitate greater broadband access, promote operational efficiencies, or otherwise serve the public interest.” Establishing a single cap for E-rate and rural healthcare would violates Congress’ intent and slow schools’ progress on broadband connectivity, the department said, posted Friday in docket 06-122.
In the days before the sunshine period for August's FCC meeting, the eighth floor had a parade of parties urging tweaks or changes to the broadband mapping draft order on this coming Thursday's agenda. That's according to docket 19-195 postings.
The FCC boosting some standards for what type of broadband is eligible for Lifeline government subsidies caused some stakeholder confusion in the hours after Thursday's release at 3:13 p.m. EDT. Some state telecom and industry representatives were puzzled why the otherwise routine-looking staff action came as a CTIA et alia petition is pending (see 1906280012). The agency replied that the action was previously mandated. The Wireline Bureau public notice came a day after NARUC members approved a resolution asking the FCC to not make such changes (see 1907230040). The PN noted it's delivering on what a 2016 order envisioned.
Rural ISPs are optimistic on FCC plans to distribute up to $20.4 billion over 10 years through a Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Chairman Ajit Pai floated earlier this year (see 1904150066). Sectors asked for modifications to a draft NPRM on rules on how to distribute the USF subsidies through a two-step reverse auction (see 1907110031). Commissioners are expected to vote at their Aug. 1 meeting on the NPRM.