Employment Law Report

April 24, 2020

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a $200 million COVID-19 Telehealth Program under the CARES Act to help health care providers seeking to provide connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 13, 2020, the FCC published a Notice that it had opened the application portal for eligible health care providers apply for funding under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Eligible healthcare providers are limited to defined categories of nonprofit and public eligible healthcare providers in the 1996 Telecommunications Act. These categories include teaching hospitals, nonprofit hospitals, community health centers, rural health clinics, skilled nursing facilities, community mental health centers, or a consortia of healthcare providers. Eligible providers may be located in either a rural or non-rural area or in a U.S. territory. No deadline has been set for filing an application, and there is no limit on the number of eligible healthcare providers who can apply. For additional information, go the FCC’s COVID-10 Telehealth Program webpage. See also the Program FAQs.