Roles and Responsibilities
Contributors (Service Providers)
Universal service is paid for by contributions from telecommunications carriers, including wireline and wireless companies, and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, including cable companies that provide voice service, based on an assessment of their interstate and international end-user revenues.
Telecommunications companies are required by law to make contributions to the USF, paying in a percentage of their end-user interstate and international revenues. This percentage is called the contribution factor. The contribution factor changes each quarter, varying with the demand for universal service support.
In the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program, disbursements are made to the service provider who then pays or credits the health care provider (HCP). Individuals who are service providers may not be account holders or submit any forms on behalf of the HCP, other than invoicing forms. For more information, please visit the following webpages:
Beneficiaries (Health Care Providers)
The Rural Health Care (RHC) program provides funding to eligible health care providers for telecommunications and broadband services needed to deliver health care. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of health care available to patients in rural communities by ensuring that eligible health care providers have access to telecommunications and broadband services.
The Primary Account Holder and all Secondary Account holders must be an officer, director, or authorized employee of the HCP meaning they must be employed directly by the HCP.
- There can only be one Primary Account Holder however there can be multiple Secondary Account Holders.
- The Primary Account Holder is responsible for keeping all account holder information accurate and up to date in My Portal and RHC Connect.
Consultants (Tertiary Account Holders)
HCPs participating in the Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) or Telecommunications (Telecom) Program, may hire a consultant or other third party to file forms on their behalf. In this case, a third-party authorization (TPA) must be submitted to USAC. A TPA provides written authorization to the third-party/consultant to complete and submit forms on behalf of the HCP or consortium. In addition to giving the third-party authority to complete and submit forms, the TPA acknowledges that the HCP accepts financial and legal responsibility for any errors, omissions, or misrepresentations in the forms and/or documents submitted by the third party.