Telehealth

Veterans living in rural America are being left behind by Federal healthcare systems due to shortages of robust broadband services and limited telehealth access, lawmakers and witnesses warned on July 25 during a field hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. During the hearing, which was held in Urbana (IL), Members of Congress heard firsthand how the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) telehealth programs remain out of reach for many veterans in rural areas who lack reliable internet access.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in consultation with the Office of the Managing Director (OMD), announces the amount of unused funds for the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program that have been carried forward for funding year 2025. The FCC’s rules for the RHC Program establish a process to carry forward unused funds from past funding years for use in future funding years. The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects that, as of May 31, 2025, $129.30 million in unused funds is available for use in future funding years beginning in funding year

The Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC’s) estimated total Rural Health Care Program demand for Funding Year 2025 is $823.08 million, including the gross demand estimate of $787.21 million for the Telecommunications (Telecom) and Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Programs and the projected USAC administrative expenses of $35.87 million.

Years of Republican and Democratic administrations have tried to fix the nation’s broadband woes, through flawed attempts.

Congressman David Valadao (R-CA-22) and Congressman Adam Gray (D-CA-13) introduced the Telehealth Network and Telehealth Resource Centers Grant Program Reauthorization Act. This bipartisan bill would provide investment in rural healthcare by reauthorizing the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs through Fiscal Year 2030.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in partnership with the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, is seeking public input on how best to advance a seamless, secure, and patient-centered digital health infrastructure. The request for information invites input from patients, caregivers, providers, payers, technology developers, and other stakeholders on how CMS and ASTP/ONC can: 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking action to preserve the core mission of the Medicaid program by putting an end to spending that duplicates resources available through other federal and state programs or isn’t directly tied to healthcare services.  Mounting expenditures, such as covering housekeeping for individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid or high-speed internet for rural healthcare providers, distracts from the core mission of Medicaid, and in some instances, serves as an overly-creative financing mechanism to skirt state budget responsibilities. CM

The Greene County (AL) Health System, with only three doctors, has no intensive care unit or surgical services.

The Federal government took a range of steps to expedite the adoption and awareness of telehealth. Some of the telehealth flexibilities have been made permanent while others are temporary. Telehealth policies allow:

Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Mark Warner (D-VA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Peter Welch (D-VT), and John Barrasso (R-WY) led a bipartisan group of 60 senators in reintroducing the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act. The CONNECT for Health Act will expand coverage of telehealth services through Medicare, make COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities permanent, improve health outcomes, and make it easier for patients to connect with their doctors.