March 23, 2026
FCC Order DA 24-366 – Directs USAC to Accept Late-Filed Funding Requests
Beginning in funding year (FY) 2024, the FCC directed USAC to allow health care providers to file funding requests in the RHC Program up to 30 days after the close of the application filing window. If the FCC grants a waiver of the application filing deadline, USAC will process the funding request as if it was timely filed prior to the close of the application filing window. USAC will dismiss the funding request if there is no request to waive the application filing deadline or if the FCC denies the waiver request.
For more information, please read FCC Order DA 24-366.
March 20, 2026
RHC Program FY2026 Filing Window Closes on April 1!
The Funding Year (FY) 2026 filing window opened on December 1, 2025, and will close on April 1, 2026. This means all funding requests (FCC Forms 462 or 466) must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on April 1, 2026.
The following resources have been posted to the USAC website to assist applicants that are submitting the FCC Form 462 for the Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Program:
The following resources have been posted to the USAC website to assist applicants that are submitting the FCC Form 466 for the Telecommunications (Telecom):
NOTE: Forms that are in draft status are not considered submitted. Each FCC Form 462 and 466 must be signed, certified, and submitted prior to the April 1st deadline to be considered for funding. Learn more about filing windows.
March 20, 2026
RHC Connect Outage Due to System Upgrade: March 20, 2026
RHC Connect may be unavailable on Friday, March 20, 2026, from 7:00 p.m.- midnight ET due to a scheduled system upgrade. During this time, users may be unable to log in to and use RHC Connect. We apologize for any inconvenience.
February 23, 2026
SAM.gov UEI Requirement
Beginning August 2026, USAC will begin using SAM.gov banking information to remit payment for all Universal Service Fund (USF) invoices. All service providers must have an active SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) on their FCC Form 498 and must have a valid bank account associated with their UEI. For more information, see the SAM.gov UEI Requirement webpage.
