July 8, 2026
FCC Waives Certain RHC Program Rules in Response to Super Typhoon Bavi
On July 8, 2026, the FCC released order DA 26-685 waiving the following Rural Health Care Program (RHC) rules for participants and service providers located in areas affected by Super Typhoon Bavi:
- Deadline for Appeals and Requests for Waiver – The FCC waives the 60-day deadlines for requests for review or waiver of decisions by USAC or the FCC and provides an additional 60 days to file appeals and waivers. This waiver is in effect for all deadlines of appeals and waiver requests from July 2, 2026, through December 5, 2026.
- Information Requests – The FCC waives the 14-day deadline for applicants in the affected areas to respond to Information Requests from USAC related to funding requests, appeals and waivers, invoices, audits, and other documentation submitted by program participants. This waiver will apply to all Information Requests issued on or after July 2, 2026, regardless of the related funding year. The new deadline for responding to Information requests is December 8, 2026.
- Documentation Retention and Production – Due to possible lost records, the FCC waives the rule that applicants and service providers must retain all documents for at least five years after the last day of the supported services in a given funding year. If lost records are later requested by USAC or the FCC, program participants will not be penalized, but applicants and service providers will be held responsible for obtaining such records, where available, from a third party. Program participants that are affected also must certify that the records were destroyed in the typhoon. Current rules apply to all records that were not destroyed.
- Invoice Filing Deadline – The FCC waives the invoicing deadline for FY2025 funding requests and grants the automatic 120-day extension. Thus, for single-year funding commitments that previously had a deadline of October 28, 2026, the new deadline will be February 25, 2027.
July 1, 2026
My Portal will be Unavailable after July 31, 2026!
Please be advised that as of July 31, 2026, My Portal will no longer be available to external stakeholders. User data has been migrated to RHC Connect, the new Rural Health Care (RHC) program’s online application system. In advance of that date, be sure that all documents and information you want to save is downloaded from My Portal to your device. For information for the last ten funding years, please continue to use Open Data as a resource. As we get closer to July 31, the RHC outreach team will provide further instructions about how to request information and documents from My Portal via the RHC Customer Service Center.
July 1, 2026
Submit Your FY2027 Request for Services Forms!
Beginning on July 1, 2026, applicants can start the competitive bidding process for Funding Year (FY) 2027. For the Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) program, the FCC Form 461 (Request for Services Form) and for the Telecommunications (Telecom) Program the FCC Form 465 (Request for Services Form) may be submitted in RHC Connect along with any other competitive bidding documents such as a Request for Proposal (RFP). For more information, visit the Prepare for Competitive Bidding and Request Services webpage for the HCF Program and the Prepare for Competitive Bidding and Request Services webpage for the Telecom Program.
For more information and important dates for FY2027 visit the Funding Year Overview webpage.
Please join the Rural Health Care (RHC) outreach team for the Request for Services webinars:
- FY2027 HCF Program Request for Services Webinar
- Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. ET – Register
- FY2027 Telecom Program Request for Services Webinar
- Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. ET – Register
June 30, 2026
Last Day to Submit Post-Commitment Change Requests!
The service delivery deadline for all single year Funding Year (FY) 2025 commitments is today, June 30, 2026. The service delivery deadline is included in the funding commitment letter (FCL), which USAC sends via email after processing the FCC Form 462 for the Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) Program and the FCC Form 466 for the Telecommunications (Telecom) Program. Per FCC Order 19-78, applicants must submit the following post-commitment change requests on or before the service delivery deadline of the affected Funding Request Number (FRN).
HCF Program:
Post-commitment change requests for the HCF Program must be submitted in RHC Connect. For more information, please visit the Post-Commitment Actions webpage on the USAC website. A step-by-step user guide is available on that webpage to assist you with your submission.
Telecom Program:
For more information, please visit the Post-Commitment Actions and the Service Substitution webpage on the USAC website. A step-by-step user guide is available on that webpage to assist you with your submission.
June 29, 2026
Connected Care Pilot Program (CCPP) – Last Day to Submit Invoices and Final Report!
Per CCPP rules, the deadline to submit final invoices and required reports is today, June 29, 2026. Invoices and all required reports for CCPP are submitted in My Portal. The FCC Form 463 is the invoicing form for CCPP. For assistance with the FCC Form 463, please visit the Step 5: invoice USAC webpage on the USAC website. Required reports are also submitted in My Portal. For assistance with submitting all required reports, please visit the Step 6: Required Reports webpage.
