FCC Fully Funds RHC FY 2020 Applications
Yesterday, the FCC released an Order fully funding the Rural Health Care Program Funding Year (FY) 2020 applications.
The FCC also waived section 54.619(a) of the rules to eliminate the $150 million cap on upfront payments and multi-year commitments for FY 2020.- USAC reported to the Commission that the overall demand for the RHC program for FY 2020 is $670.14 million, which includes $648.24 million in demand for funding requests. The balance of $21.9 million reflects USAC’s administrative expenses.
- The Commission noted that there is $802.74 million available: $604.76 million from the annual capped amount and $197.98 million in the rollover funding from prior funding years. As such, the available funds exceed the FY 2020 demand.
- The FY 2020 demand is significantly lower than the FY 2019 demand of $719.48 million (about $50 million less once administrative costs are removed).
- In the Healthcare Connect Fund program, support for upfront payments and multi-year commitments have their own inflation-adjusted cap of $152.7 million for FY 2020. Applicants requested a total of $195.46 million for upfront payments and multi-year commitments, exceeding the cap. Because of the unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission waived section 54.619(a) of its rules to eliminate the cap on upfront payments and multi-year commitments for FY 2020 to fully fund upfront payments and multi-year commitments as well.
