The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established a $200 million COVID-19 Telehealth Program, as authorized by the CARES Act, and separately created a $100 million, three-year Connected Care Pilot Program. The programs support broadband internet access service-enabled technologies used to deliver remote medical, diagnostic, patient-centered and treatment-related services directly to patients outside of traditional brick-and-mortar medical facilities. The FCC order identifies eligible health care providers and provides detailed information on the application processes for the two programs. Private, for-profit health care providers are not eligible.
Applying for COVID-19 Telehealth Program Funds
The program will allocate $200 million to eligible health care providers, whether located in rural or non-rural areas, to purchase communications services and devices in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to broadband connections, the program will fund monitoring devices (e.g., pulse-ox, BP monitoring devices) as long as they are connected to the internet. The FCC will review applications and award funds on a rolling basis until they are expended or the current pandemic has ended. Applicants are strongly encouraged to target the funding to high-risk and vulnerable patients to the extent practicable. Funding, however, is not limited to treating COVID-19 patients as long as the funds are used “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.” The FCC will announce application deadlines.
Eligible Health Care Providers. The program is limited to nonprofit- and public-eligible health care providers that fall within one of the following categories: (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; or (8) consortia of health care providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories. Interested health care providers that do not already have an eligibility determination can obtain one by filling out an FCC Form 460 with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC).
Application Process. The order identifies the minimum information required in the applications, which must be submitted through the FCC’s online Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) under WC Docket No. 20-89, https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs, and must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. (The information required in the application is provided at the end of this alert). The FCC will issue a notice stating when applicants can begin submitting applications.
Purchasing Services and Equipment. Selected health care providers need not engage in a competitive bidding process when procuring services or devices with program funds but are encouraged to purchase cost-effective eligible services and devices to the extent practicable during this time. The FCC also imposes record retention obligations.
Connected Care Pilot Program
The FCC’s connected care pilot program provides funding for selected pilot projects to cover 85% of the eligible costs of broadband connectivity, network equipment and information services necessary to provide connected care services. To participate in the program, a rural- or non-rural-eligible health care provider (the same categories of providers eligible for the COVID-19 program) must first submit an application to the FCC describing, among other things, its proposed pilot project and how the pilot project will use connected care services to serve the health care needs of participating patients. Selected programs will receive three years of committed funding. The FCC will prioritize telehealth programs that primarily benefit low-income persons or veterans.
The program will help health care providers defray the costs of services and equipment, including: (1) paying for broadband internet access services for their patients; (2) paying for the health care provider’s own broadband data connections as needed to enable broadband connections with their patients (but not with other health care providers); (3) purchasing other connected care information services; and (4) buying certain types of network equipment, such as routers and servers, but not end user or medical equipment.
The FCC order provides detailed guidance on how to apply for funding and the information required, including whether the provider serves rural or tribal areas. The FCC will announce the deadline for submitting applications and release an application form. Selected applicants must procure services through a competitive bidding process with enumerated exceptions.
Information Required for Applying for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program
Applications for funding for this program must include the following information:
- Names, addresses, county, and health care provider numbers (if available) for health care providers seeking funding through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program application and the lead health care provider for applications involving multiple health care providers.
- Contact information for the individual that will be responsible for the application (telephone number, mailing address and email address).
- Description of the anticipated connected care services to be provided, the conditions to be treated, and the goals and objectives. This should include a brief description of how COVID-19 has impacted your area, your patient population, and the approximate number of patients that could be treated by the health care provider’s connected care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you intend to use the COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding to treat patients without COVID-19, describe how this would free up your resources that will be used to treat COVID-19 and/or how this would otherwise prevent, prepare for or respond to the disease by, for example, facilitating social distancing.
- Description of the estimated number of patients to be treated.
- Description of the telecommunications services, information services or “devices necessary to enable the provision of telehealth services” requested, the total amount of funding requested, as well as the total monthly amount of funding requested for each eligible item. If requesting funding for devices, a description of all types of devices for which funding is requested, how the devices are integral to patient care, and whether the devices are for patient use or for the health care provider’s use. As noted above, monitoring devices (e.g., pulse-ox, BP monitoring devices) will only be funded if they are themselves connected.
- Supporting documentation for the costs indicated in their application, such as a vendor or service provider quote, invoice or similar information.
- A timeline for deployment of the proposed service(s) and a summary of the factors the applicant intends to track that can help measure the real impact of the supported services and devices.
Applicants will also be required, at the time of submission of their application, to certify, among other things, that they will comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other applicable privacy and reimbursement laws and regulations, and applicable medical licensing laws and regulations, as waived or modified in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as all applicable COVID-19 Telehealth Program requirements and procedures, including the requirement to retain records to demonstrate compliance with the COVID-19 Telehealth Program requirements and procedures for three years following the last date of service, subject to audit. Health care providers that participate in the COVID-19 Telehealth Program must also comply with all applicable federal and state laws, including the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, as waived or modified in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, applicants will also be required to certify that they are not already receiving or expecting to receive other federal or state funding for the exact same services or devices for which they are requesting support under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.
For further information, please contact Michael Pryor at mpryor@bhfs.com.
Information is changing daily and some of the content included in this alert may have changed or been updated since publication.
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This document is intended to provide you with general information regarding the FCC's COVID-19 Telehealth Program and Connected Care Pilot Program. The contents of this document are not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about the contents of this document or if you need legal advice as to an issue, please contact the attorneys listed or your regular Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP attorney. This communication may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions.