Rural Organizations Unite to Comment on FCC Universal Services Fund for Rural Health

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in the process of considering revisions to its current support programs for rural telecommunications and in particular it is taking a hard look at changes on the use of these funds. These changes represent a major policy shift that will impact rural health care providers and for this reason California State Rural Health Association (CSRHA) has prioritized these issues in its technology advocacy focus.

The Northern Sierra Rural Health Network (NSRHN), California Telemedicine and eCenter (CTEC) and CSRHA joined together to submit comments in a second round of FCC comments addressing the issues of whether to revise the Universal Services Fund program to allow for infrastructure expenditures, raising the discount level on internet services and whether to allow mobile health providers to be reimbursed for other than satellite services. In addition, these organizatons raised concern about the new definition of rural developed by the FCC and its impact on rural communities in California. “By organizing rural health leaders in other states along with the NRHA, CSRHA played a leadership role in bringing these important issues to the forefront," says Speranza Avram, NSRHN Executive Director. For information on the proposed ruling, click here.

In addition, CSRHA and NSRHN convened a national conference call involving other rural health leaders from rural states across the nation and the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) to collaborate on the issues raised in the FCC comments. “We are pleased the National Rural Health Association’s government affairs committee developed national task force to review the FCC proposed ruling and submit comments, said Lauri Medeiros, CSRHA Executive Director. “This kind of collaboration with advocates across the country is important to share a strong voice in support of our rural needs.” Avram, wrote draft comments for the task force to review and NRHA submitted comments and presented the final version to the 20-member national government affairs committee. Allison Hughes, a USAC board member also participated in the task force and shared an important perspective about the FCC program and opportunities.

CSRHA provided information to health care providers around the state and encouraged additional comments. The result included rejecting the Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) definition of rural that the FCC was considering. Barb Johnston Executive Director of CTEC explained, “Rural health providers and communities across the state are hopeful that the current discussions with FCC will lead to improved access to many health services that are currently either not available or limited. Eligibility for federal funding allows many telemedicine and eHealth programs to extend services to the most remote rural and underserved communities.”

CSRHA in collaboration with Northern Sierra Rural Health Network (NSRHN) and the Office Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) are currently analyzing the statewide impact of the new rural definition. Preliminary analysis indicates that there is a net increase in communities designated as rural; however, there are still some anomalies that need to be addressed.

To review comments from CSRHA, click here.
To review comments from NRHA, click here.

Article Posted 05/10/05