The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Monday that it had approved additional funding for healthcare providers to expand their telehealth capabilities.
“Telehealth is proving to be an invaluable resource to treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement on Monday.
“From implementing remote patient monitoring to helping low-income patients receive care in their communities, I am confident that the funding we approved today will help health care providers expand their telehealth efforts in New York, Michigan, and elsewhere,” he added.
The FCC will provide funding to healthcare providers in some of the hardest-hit areas of the coronavirus pandemic, such as New York and Michigan.
The FCC will provide:
- $958,270 to Banyan Community Health Center Inc. in Coral Gables, Florida, to serve 24 medically underserved areas in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
- $737,089 to Health Partners of Western Ohio to help low-income patients by deploying telemedicine so that patients can receive medical care at 72 community locations.
- $983,772 to NYU Langone Health in New York, New York.
- $382,331 to St. John Well Child and Family Center in Los Angeles, California, to treat 21,000 patients in South Los Angeles and Compton.
- $649,000 to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Pai said in April:
The FCC is moving quickly to distribute this funding to help health care providers and patients across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. Given the importance of social distancing, telehealth is more important than ever, so we are pleased to do our part to help healthcare providers purchase telecommunications, broadband connectivity, and devices necessary for providing connected care.
The CARES Act provided the FCC $200 million to the agency’s Wireline Competition Bureau to start expanding healthcare providers’ telehealth capabilities.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.