Rural Health Care
Supporting healthcare facilities in bringing world class medical care to rural areas through increased connectivity
Upcoming Dates
How It Works
The Rural Health Care program funds two types of services.
You can apply for funding for Voice and Data, Broadband, or both.
Voice and Data
If you need voice and other telecommunication services, you may be eligible for funding through the Telecommunications Program.
Discount Rate: Determined using the urban/rural differential.
Broadband
If you need broadband services, network equipment, etc., you may be eligible for funding through the Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Program.
Discount Rate: Flat 65% discount on eligible expenses.
The Process
These steps will help you navigate the process to get funding.
Determine your eligibility
Develop evaluation criteria and request services
Evaluate bids and select a service provider
Submit a funding request
Certify service start and end dates
Work with your service provider to invoice USAC
Announcements
FCC Announces Availability of Unused Funds to Fully Fund Rural Health Care (RHC) Program...
Jun 8, 2026
On June 8, 2026, the FCC Wireline Competition Bureau directed USAC to carry forward up to $226.42 million in unused funds from prior funding years to satisfy the funding year (FY) 2026 demand for the RHC program. Because of this, all eligible RHC program funding requests filed during the FY2026 application filing window can now be fully...
Read MoreRHC Connect System Maintenance: May 24, 2026
May 22, 2026
USAC will be performing system maintenance in RHC Connect on Sunday, May 24, 2026, from 7:00 p.m....
Read MoreRHC Connect Outage Due to System Maintenance: April 26, 2026
Apr 24, 2026
RHC Connect will be unavailable on Sunday, April 26, 2026, from 7 p.m. until midnight ET due...
Read More