The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau began accepting applications for Round 2 of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program on Thursday, April 29, 2021, at 12:00 PM ET at www.fcc.gov/covid19telehealth. Round 2 of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program is a $249.95 million federal initiative that builds on the $200 million programs established as part of the CARES Act.
The FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program supports the efforts of health care 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 Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) provided an additional $249.95 million to fund a second round of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to seek comment on how to commit the new funding.
On March 30, the FCC released a Report and Order setting forth details about the second round of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. In February, the FCC found it was in the public interest to use the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to administer the program’s second round.
On April 15, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing that the application window for the second round of COVID-19 Telehealth funding will open on April 29. Interested applicants can participate in a series of trainings before the application window to prepare.
Clear Arch Health provides a telehealth program to help you address your COVID-19 patient populations. If you are interested in applying for the FCC grant for telehealth funding to remotely care for patients, please fill out the form below and we will contact you to assist in your application.
Who is eligible to apply?
The program is open to non-profit and public health care providers, whether they are located in rural or nonrural areas. For-profit entities are not eligible for funding. Round 1 applicants are still eligible for round 2 funding, even if they were awarded prior funding. There is a 1 million dollar cap in funding per applicant. Round 1 award amounts will not count towards the 1 million dollar round 2 cap. Round 1 applicants that were not awarded funding, will also receive an increase in points for Round 2.
According to the FCC, eligible institutions include:
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post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools;
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community health centers or health centers providing health care to migrants;
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local health departments or agencies;
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community mental health centers;
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not-for-profit hospitals;
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rural health clinics; and
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consortia of health care providers consisting of one or more entities described above.
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