SHLB Commends Bipartisan Group of Senators for Urging FCC to Increase Rural Health Care Funding

A bipartisan group of thirty-one Senators sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission calling for greater funding for the Rural Health Care (RHC) program.  The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, a broad-based membership organization that includes health providers and telehealth networks, has been advocating for RHC reform since December of 2015 and highly commends the Senators’ strong show of support. John Windhausen, Jr., Executive Director of SHLB, said, “The SHLB Coalition is extremely pleased that such a large and bipartisan group of Senators has called for more funding for the FCC's Rural Health Care (RHC) program.  Congress created the RHC program in the same statutory provision that established the E-rate program, a sign that Congress intended both programs to be given the highest priority in our universal service system. Yet the $400 M cap on the RHC program has remained set in stone for over 20 years and simply does not reflect the enormous changes in the rural health care marketplace, including the closure of scores of rural hospitals, the improvements in telemedicine, the growth of electronic medical records, the doubling of eligible health care providers, and the rural broadband gap.  The Senate letter suggests the FCC should move forward quickly to reform and augment the Rural Health Care program as requested by the SHLB Coalition in our December 2015 Petition for Rulemaking.”