Rural Health Care
About Rural Health Care:
- Overview of the Program
- Overview of the Process
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- Rural Health Care Pilot Program
Rural Health Care Tools:
Latest News
Below are current news announcements relevant to the Rural Health Care Program. You can access previous announcements by clicking the latest news archive.
New version of the RHC Welcome Packet now available!
RHC Welcome Packet (PDF)
Order adopts an interim rule extending the "grandfathering" of rurality for HCPs with funding commitments prior to July 1, 2005. Interim rule effective June 21, 2011.
The FCC has released an Order adopting an interim rule extending the "grandfathering" of rurality under the Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 19 FCC Rcd 24613 (2004) that ended June 30, 2011.
Health care providers that are located in a "rural area" under the definition used by the Commission prior to July 1, 2005, and that have received a funding commitment from the rural health care program prior to July 1, 2005, will continue to be treated as if they are located in "rural" areas for purposes of determining eligibility for all universal service rural health care programs on an interim basis.
The FCC has determined that grandfathered facilities, while not located themselves in a "rural area" under current Commission definitions, play a key role in providing health care services to "fundamentally rural" areas and that discontinuance of funding could result in serious harm to affected rural health providers and their patient populations.
The interim rule will be effective June 21, 2011, without notice and comment in order to maintain the status quo while the FCC considers amending the rule permanently. In the meanwhile, the FCC seeks comment on whether this is the appropriate time to permanently extend eligibility for the approximately 235 affected health care providers. Interested persons may file comments and replies regarding the Notice within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and may file reply comments within 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. All filings related to the Notice should refer to WC Docket No. 02-60. Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
"Understanding the Red Light Rule" webinar for contributors and service providers on June 27 and 30.
Beginning May 3, HCPs can file FCC Forms 466/466-A for FY 2011 after their Allowable Contract Service Date (ACSD)
We are pleased to announce that applicants can now file a Funding Request and Certification Form (FCC Form 466) and/or an Internet Service Funding Request and Certification Form (FCC Form 466-A) for Fund Year 2011 (July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012). Per FCC competitive bidding requirements, Health Care Providers (HCPs) must wait until the Allowable Contract Selection Date (ACSD) - or the 29th day after the 465 is posted - to sign a contract or enter into a service agreement. The ACSD for each HCP's posted Form 465 can be found on the RHC Search Posted Services page.
Below are some tips and links to help with this process:
Scheduled System Maintenance -
Health Care Provider (HCP) Login Outage
The Health Care Provider (HCP) Login page including all online forms and the commitments search tool will be unavailable on Friday, April 15, 2011 from 8:00 PM until 2:00 AM Saturday, April 16, 2011 due to scheduled system maintenance.
The outage will affect all pages located at: www.rhc.universalservice.org. During this time users will be unable to file, certify, and search for certain forms online. If filling an online application, please submit before 5 PM or save it to submit later.
USAC hosting a day-long Partner Meeting at the ATA 2011 Conference on Saturday, April 30
USAC will conduct a day-long training at the American Telemedicine Association's (ATA) annual conference. The session will be conducted in two parts; the first will focus on the RHC Primary program, and the second will focus on the RHC Pilot program. The training is free and open to all conference attendees, separate registration is not required. For more information, visit the RHC Training page or the Co-Located & Partner Meetings page of the ATA 2011 website.
Fund Year 2011 Window Opens 8:00 AM EST April 4, 2011
Eligible* health care providers (HCPs) may post FCC Form 465 – Description of Services Requested and Certification Form for Funding Year 2011 beginning on Monday, April 4, 2011 at 8:00 AM EST. Funding Year 2011 is from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.
Visit these sections of our website for guidance:
- Submit a Service Request: Filing Form 465
- How to Apply: Application Process Overview
Additional Information
Changes proposed in the FCC's July 15, 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Rural Health Care (FCC 10-125) remain pending before the Commission and are not part of this window opening. No further information is available at this time.
The second three-year "grandfathering" of rurality under the Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 19 FCC Rcd 24613 (2004) ends June 30, 2011. Without further action by the Commission, for Funding Year 2011, all HCPs must meet the definition of "rural" that took effect on July 1, 2005.
*Eligibility is based on rurality and eligible provider type. For more information, review the eligible provider types on the RHC website.
