Connected Care Pilot Program

Telehealth has assumed a critical role in health care delivery as technology and improved broadband connectivity have enabled patients to access health care services without needing to visit a health care provider’s physical location. Advances in telehealth are transforming health care from a service delivered through traditional brick and mortar health care facilities to connected care options delivered via a broadband Internet access connection directly to the patient’s home or mobile location. Despite the numerous benefits of connected care services, patients who cannot afford or who otherwise lack reliable, robust broadband Internet access connectivity, including many low-income Americans and veterans, are not realizing the benefits of these innovative telehealth technologies. The costs necessary to provide connected care services may also limit some health care providers’ ability to treat patients, particularly low-income Americans and veterans, with connected care services. To address this, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) established the Connected Care Pilot Program (Pilot Program) within the Universal Service Fund (USF or Fund) to provide funding up to $100 million over three years and to examine how the Fund can help support the trend towards connected care services, particularly for low-income Americans and veterans. The Pilot Program was set up to help defray eligible health care providers’ costs of providing connected care services, with a particular emphasis on supporting these services for eligible low-income Americans and veterans. The Commission expects that the Pilot Program will benefit many low-income and veteran patients who are responding to a wide variety of health challenges such as public health epidemics, opioid dependency, mental health conditions, high-risk pregnancy, and chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, and heart disease. The Commission also expects that the Pilot Program will provide meaningful data that will help better understand how USF funds can support health care provider and patient use of connected care services, and how supporting health care provider and patient use of connected care services can improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs.

Eligible health care providers include: (1) post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools; (2) community health centers or health centers providing health care to migrants; (3) local health departments or agencies; (4) community mental health centers; (5) not-for-profit hospitals; (6) rural health clinics; (7) skilled nursing facilities (as defined in section 395i–3(a) of title 42) and (8) consortium of health care providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories. In addition, eligible health care providers must be non-profit or public.

To clarify the 2 CFR 200 requirements applicable to this program: Only Subpart A - Acronyms and Definitions, Subpart B - General Provisions, Subparts C-D (specifically 2 CFR § 200.203 - Requirement to provide public notice of Federal financial assistance programs; 2 CFR § 200.303 Internal controls; and 2 CFR §§ 200.331-333 Subrecipient Monitoring and Management).

Health care providers must: (1) submit information requesting an eligibility determination (for health care provider sites that do not already have one) from the Universal Service Administrative Company through filling an FCC Form 460, and (2) submit an initial application to the Commission. The Commission will select applicants on the basis of initial applications that will be permitted to apply for funding commitments. Applicants permitted to apply for funding are then required to engage in competitive bidding for providers to implement their projects through the FCC Form 461. Once the competitive bidding requirements are satisfied, they must submit funding requests on the FCC Form 462 (Funding Request Form) to USAC. Funding will be approved or denied through a Funding Commitment Letter. After eligible services and equipment have been provided to the health care provider, health care providers will submit invoices to USAC on a monthly basis to enable their service providers to receive disbursements.

Applicants selected on the basis of initial applications will receive notification, and will then be permitted to apply for funding commitments. Approved funding is awarded through a Funding Commitment Letter to the applicant.

Initial applications were to be submitted between November 6, 2020 and December 7, 2020. Projects were selected on the basis of these initial applications. Final selections were made on March 17, 2022. August 18, 2022 was the last day to post initial FCC Forms 461 (Request for Services Form) to the USAC website. September 16, 2022 is the deadline for all selected Projects to submit an initial FCC Form 462 (Funding Request Form) to USAC. Funding is approved on a rolling basis. December 31, 2025 is the last date for Pilot Program participants to end their projects (participants must end their projects within three years of first receiving service and no later than December 31, 2025).