FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Program

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the commission is the United States' primary authority for communications law, regulation, and technological innovation.

Lifeline is the FCC's long-standing program to help make communications services more affordable for low-income consumers. Lifeline provides subscribers a discount on monthly telephone service, broadband Internet access service, or voice-broadband bundled service purchased from participating providers. This program is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) which is responsible for data collection and maintenance, support calculation, and disbursement.

While Lifeline has been the FCC’s consumer-focused program since 1985, on April 2, 2020, the FCC established the COVID-19 Telehealth Program to assist eligible health care providers provide telehealth services to patients in remote or mobile locations in response to the pandemic.  This program provides $200 million in funding, appropriated by the CARES Act, for telecommunication services, information services and necessary devices. There is no deadline for providers who wish to apply.  Funding decisions will be made on a rolling basis, and the FCC will continue to accept and review applications until the funding is exhausted or the current COVID-19 pandemic has ended.

Eligible Providers

The COVID-19 Telehealth Program is limited to nonprofit and public health care providers that fall within the categories of health care providers in section 254(h)(7)(B) of the 1996 Act:

1.   post-secondary educational institutions offering health care instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools;

2.  community health centers or health centers providing health care to migrants;

3.  local health departments or agencies;

4.  community mental health centers;

5.  not-for-profit hospitals;

6.  rural health clinics;

7.   skilled nursing facilities; or

8.  consortia of health care providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories.

For purposes of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which is authorized by the CARES Act, and not the 1996 Telecommunications Act, both rural and non-rural health clinics are eligible to receive funding.

Eligible Services and Devices

Devices for which funding is requested must be used for telehealth services and integral to patient care.  The COVID-19 Telehealth Program will only fund devices (e.g., pulse oximetry, blood pressure monitoring devices, etc.) that are themselves connected, and will not fund unconnected devices that patients can use at home and then manually report the results to their medical professional. Connected devices may include devices with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity, including devices that connect to a consumer’s phone, for example.

Examples of eligible services and connected devices that COVID-19 Telehealth Program applicants may seek funding for include:

  • Telecommunications Services and Broadband Connectivity Services: Voice services, for health care providers or their patients.

  • Information Services: Internet connectivity services for health care providers or their patients; remote patient monitoring platforms and services; patient reported outcome platforms; store and forward services, such as asynchronous transfer of patient images and data for interpretation by a physician; platforms and services to provide synchronous video consultation.

  • Connected Devices/Equipment: Tablets, smart phones, or connected devices to receive connected care services at home (e.g., broadband-enabled blood pressure monitors; pulse oximetry monitors) for patient or health care provider use; or telemedicine kiosks/carts for health care provider sites.

For recurring services, funding will be provided for the period March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2020. Funding will not be provided for personnel costs (including but not limited to costs for IT staff, project managers, or medical professionals), marketing costs, administrative expenses, or training costs.  Vendors and service providers can elect to provide training and other IT support at no cost to health care providers participating in the program.  Eligible health care providers should not include the cost of ineligible items in their funding application. 

How to Apply

Before Applying:

1.  Health care providers seeking to participate in the program must first create an FCC Registration Number (FRN), username and password in the Commission Registration System (CORES).

2.  Next health care providers must obtain an eligibility determination from the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for each health care provider site that they include in their application.  You may apply as a consortium or include multiple sites in an application, but each site for which you seek funding must qualify as an eligible health care provider.  If these health care providers do not already have this eligibility determination, they can obtain one by filing an FCC Form 460 through My Portal on USAC's webpage.
*Note:  Language on the FCC Form 460 referencing a rural or consortium requirement does not apply to the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

3.  Register with the federal System for Award Management (SAM). SAM registration support can be found here.

Apply Online:

The FCC provides instructions for using the online application portal as well as the below tips:

1.   Have your FCC username and password from CORES on hand. You will need these to log in. After logging in, you can apply using only an FRN that you associated with your username in CORES.

2.  Fully and accurately complete all fields marked with an asterisk (*).  These are required must be answered for your application to be complete.

3.  Save the form often by clicking "Save Draft" at the bottom of the page to preserve your work.  We recommend that you fully complete each section and then save before moving to a new section.

4.  For questions that require a more detailed narrative response, we recommend that you put your response in a separate document and upload that document as an attachment to your application (by clicking the paperclip icon in the upper right corner).  Please reference your attachment by writing, “See attachment [indicate the name of the applicant and attachment filename]” in the relevant section on the form.

5.  Consult the Instructions, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), Video Tutorial, and Slides for more information. 

*Note: Beginning May 2, 2020, the Program stopped accepting emailed PDF form applications.  All applications must be submitted through the online application portal. Providers who previously applied via mail do not need to reapply online.

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