FCC Provides Relief for Rural Health Care Program Participants, Including Filing Deadline Extension

On March 26, 2020, the FCC released an Order taking the following actions in the Rural Health Care Program.


The funding year 2020 application filing window is extended until June 30, 2020 for all applicants.

• If you need bandwidth or services you did not request previously, the deadline extension also provides additional time to file Forms 461 and 465 to seek bids.  We would encourage applicants to submit those forms earlier, however, as it appears USAC may take a few weeks to post them. 

Evergreen contracts that would expire in funding year (FY) 2019 can now be extended through FY 2020.

• Specifically, the Commission allowed parties to extend their contracts, even if the contract does not provide an option for another voluntary extension. 
• Evergreen contracts that had already reached the five-year limit can extend their contracts for an additional year. 
• HCPs must memorialize the extension and retain documentation demonstrating the extension.  
• This waiver only applies to health care providers involved in screening and treating patients for COVID-19, or “for providing services to other patients to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and devote limited on-site medical resources towards treatment of COVID-19.”

Several procedural deadlines were also extended.

• USAC Information Requests.  Applicants will receive an automatic extension of 28 days to respond.  USAC must also consider information provided after that date if the applicant can reasonably attribute the delay to its efforts to combat COVID-19.  This includes requests related to funding requests, appeals and waivers, invoices, audits and other documentation submitted by program participants. 
• Service delivery deadlines for non-recurring services in funding year 2019 are extended an additional year.
• Invoice filing deadlines are extended 180 days from the invoice filing deadline.
• Deadlines for appeals and requests for waiver are extended an additional 60 days from the original 60-day deadline (a total of 120 days).  This waiver is effective for all appeals and waiver requests from March 11, 2020 until September 30, 2020.