Announcements
November 30, 2023
Appian Downtime for CCPP Annual Report Due to System Upgrade: December 1, 2023
My Portal will be unavailable on Friday, December 1 from 7 p.m. ET until Saturday, December 1 at 12 p.m. ET due to a scheduled system upgrade. During this time, users will be unable to log in to submit required annual reports for the Connected Care Pilot Program (CCPP). We apologize for any inconvenience.
November 15, 2023
RHC-Connect Outage Due to System Upgrade: November 17, 2023
RHC Connect will be unavailable on Friday, November 17 from 7 p.m. until Saturday, November 18 at 12 p.m. ET due to a scheduled system upgrade. During this time, users will be unable to log in to and use RHC Connect. We apologize for any inconvenience.
November 2, 2023
RHC Program News
View the November Newsletter
October 30, 2023
Begin Draft Funding Requests for FY2024 on November 1!
In preparation for Funding Year (FY) 2024, applicants can draft funding requests in RHC Connect beginning on November 1. The FY2024 filing window opens on December 1, 2023, and closes on April 1, 2024. Draft forms will remain in RHC Connect and can be submitted on December 1.
Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Program and Telecommunication (Telecom) Program participants will use RHC Connect to submit their FCC Forms 462 and FCC Forms 466 (Funding Request Forms) for FY2024.
NOTE: Connected Care Pilot Program projects will continue to use My Portal to submit all FCC forms.
To learn more, please visit the following webpages:
- HCF Program – Welcome to RHC Connect – FCC Form 462
- Telecom Program – Welcome to RHC Connect – FCC Form 466
October 30, 2023
RHC Connect Update – FCC Form 466 Moving to RHC Connect for FY2024!
The FCC Form 466 (Funding Request Form) for the Telecommunications (Telecom) Program is migrating to RHC Connect for Funding Year (FY) 2024. Telecom Program applicants submitting FCC Forms 465 and 467 (for funding years prior to FY2024) will continue to do so in My Portal. Participants in the Connected Care Pilot Program (CCPP) will not be affected, unless those applicants also participate in the HCF and/or Telecom Programs.
To learn more, please visit the Welcome to RHC Connect – FCC Form 466 webpage.
October 5, 2023
RHC Program News
View the RHC October Newsletter
September 28, 2023
Don’t Miss Your RHC Program Invoice Filing Deadline!
Per FCC Order 19-78, the deadline for applicants and service providers in the Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) and the Telecommunications (Telecom) Programs to submit the FCC Form 463 and the Telecom Invoice is 120 days after June 30, 2023, the service delivery deadline for FY2022. The invoice filing deadline for Funding Year (FY) 2022 Telecom Program commitments and single year FY2022 HCF Program commitments is October 28, 2023. The invoice filing deadline for prior year multi-year commitments, for the HCF Program, may also be October 28, 2023.
Applicants and service providers may request and receive a one-time 120-day extension to the invoice filing deadline. The one-time extension must be requested on or prior to October 28, 2023.
For more information for the HCF program, please visit the Post-Commitment Actions webpage on the USAC website. For the Telecom program, please submit your invoice filing deadline request to the invoicing team at RHC-Invoicing@usac.org.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have submitted a post-commitment change request in RHC Connect, please log into RHC Connect and request an invoice filing deadline extension. We have received a high volume of these requests and may not complete the review prior to October 28.
Unsure of your invoice filing deadline?
The invoice filing deadline is included in the funding commitment letter (FCL), which USAC sends via email after processing the FCC Form 462 (Funding Request Form for HCF) or FCC Form 466 (Funding Request Form for Telecom). You can look up your invoice filing deadline using the RHC Invoice Filing Deadline Tool on the Open Data platform.
For more information, please use the following online resources:
- For the HCF Program: Invoice USAC and Welcome to RHC Connect – FCC Form 463 webpages.
- For the Telecom Program: Invoice USAC webpage.
September 7, 2023
RHC Program News
September 1, 2023
Hurricane Idalia Response
On September 1, 2023, the FCC released Order DA 23-805, waiving certain RHC rules and deadlines to assist participants and providers located in areas affected by the Hurricane Idalia. This Order applies to healthcare providers and service providers located in the areas in Florida and South Carolina that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated as eligible for Individual or Public Assistance for the purposes of federal disaster relief as of the release date of this Order. FCC waives the following rules on a temporary basis:
- Automatically provides affected program participants with an additional 150 days to file appeals and waivers. This waiver will be in effect for all deadlines of appeals and waiver requests from August 27, 2023, through 150 calendar days from the release of this Order (January 29, 2024).
- Waives the 14-day Information Request deadline for Information Requests related to funding requests, appeals and waivers, invoices, audits, and other documentation and applies to all funding years for all Information Requests that had a deadline on or after August 27, 2023, regardless of the funding year. Affected health care providers and service providers have up to 150 calendar days from the effective date of this Order (January 29, 2024) to respond to Information Requests from USAC.
- Waives the invoice filing deadline for FY2022 funding requests and grants an automatic 120-day extension; and
- Waives the September 30, 2023, deadline for Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) program annual reports. HCF program participants will have up to 150 calendar days from the effective date of this order (January 29, 2024) to submit annual reports.
Impacted program participants will not be penalized for failure to retain records destroyed by the Hurricane Idalia. For more information, read FCC Order DA 23-805.
August 31, 2023
FY2022 Annual Report Due September 30!
All Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) participants receiving Rural Health Care (RHC) program funding are required to submit an annual report to USAC by September 30 following the funding year in which funding was provided. Per FCC Order 19-78, both individual and consortia applicants must submit the report to USAC using the FY2022 Annual Report Template. Applicants should email the completed template to RHC-Outreach@usac.org by the deadline. Please include the HCP name and number in the subject line of the email and in the file name of the template. This information will supplement information collected in HCF Program forms and includes information allowing the FCC to assess progress towards the performance goals and measures of the HCF Program.
August 18, 2023
Hawaii Wildfires Response
On August 18, 2023, the FCC released Order DA 23-723, waiving certain Affordable Connectivity Program, Lifeline, E-Rate, Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rural Health Care, High Cost and Universal Service Fund contributors rules and deadlines to assist program participants and providers located in the State of Hawaii in areas affected by the wildfires. To learn more, see Order DA 23-723.
August 3, 2023
RHC Program News
View the August Newsletter
July 6, 2023
USAC Relationship with Program Consultants
Some Universal Service Fund program applicants choose to employ consultants during the program application process. Please be advised that USAC does not affiliate or endorse individual consultants to support Universal Service Fund program applicants. Consultants who work with USF program applicants may not state or imply that their services are endorsed or recommended by USAC. If you have questions about USAC programs and the resources available to support applicants, please visit the program homepages.
July 6, 2023
RHC Program News
View the July Newsletter
June 30, 2023
Typhoon Mawar Response
On June 30, 2023, the FCC released Order DA 23-571, waiving various provisions of the Lifeline, Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), E-Rate, Rural Health Care (RHC), and High Cost rules for those FCC programs’ participants and for USF contributors located in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in response to the damage caused by Typhoon Mawar. To learn more, see FCC Order DA 23-571.
June 13, 2023
Resolved: USAC Call Center Outage
USAC has restored the phone service at the Customer Service Centers for E-Rate, the Emergency Connectivity Fund, High Cost, and Rural Health Care.