FCC Announces $42.7M for 5th Round of COVID-19 Telehealth Funding

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has awarded an additional $42.7 million in telehealth funding to be distributed among 68 newly approved healthcare providers as a part of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

In March, the agency announced plans to relaunch the program, which originated in 2020 as a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The FCC accepted funding applications from April 29 until May 6.

The FCC has dedicated $250 million in funding for this year’s program, and has distributed more than $208 million to providers across the country so far.

The recent round of awards marks the fifth funding phase of the relaunched program.

The COVID-19 Telehealth Program offers reimbursement to healthcare providers for telehealth services, information services, and connected devices that are needed to carry out virtual care delivery during the pandemic.

“As the impact of new variants continue to challenge our healthcare system, the FCC has worked diligently to review and approve funding commitments as part of our COVID-19 Telehealth Program,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in the press release. “As we head into 2022, the ability to treat patients and loved ones from the safety of their home is of vital importance.”

The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau announced on November 9 that all remaining applicants that did not receive funding during the initial commitment phase had 10 days to supplement their applications with additional information.

The recent $47.2 million is the first funding round to be released since the supplemental application deadline. The funding that has not been distributed yet will go to the applications that scored the highest, according to the FCC.

The most recent funding will be distributed to 68 providers across the country. The funding amounts range from $51,000 to $1 million per organization.

Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that $4.3 million in funding under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program would go to six healthcare providers in Illinois.

AllianceChicago received $975,000 to purchase telemedicine carts, conferencing software, and to facilitate telehealth delivery to high-risk patients. The Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana also received $643,000 to help purchase telemedicine carts and software that will assist in providing non-urgent virtual care to rural and low-income populations.

Additionally, a system of five providers, Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness, was awarded $156,000 to purchase remote patient monitoring equipment for treating hypertension. Cook County Health in Chicago will receive $513,000 to buy laptops, monitors, and remote patient monitoring devices to improve virtual care for their patient population, as well.

“Expanding the reach of Illinois’s healthcare network is critical to extending reliable and accessible care to more Illinoisans, especially as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 public health crisis,” Duckworth said in a press release. “I’m proud to join Senator Durbin in announcing this federal support for telehealth services to help our state’s health providers serve their communities in this time of need.”

Two hospital consortiums in Illinois — Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and Sinai Health System — each received $1 million of the funding to purchase devices, technology, and software that will facilitate virtual care delivery.

A number of other healthcare providers were awarded $1 million as well to support telehealth-related purchases, including the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Ohio, Los Angeles’ Department of Health Services in California, Hutchinson Regional Medical Center in Kansas, Seattle Children’s Hospital in Washington, and the Westchester County Health Care Corporation in New York.

A complete list of approved applicants and their funding amounts can be found here.

In addition to the COVID-19 telehealth funding, the FCC recently announced more than $700 million in funding to improve broadband access. The funds will go to 50 broadband providers across 26 states who plan to use it to expand their internet services in rural areas.