The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Wireline Communications Bureau (WCB) has released a Public Notice announcing that all eligible Rural Health Care (RHC) Program funding requests filed during the funding year 2022 application filing window can be fully funded without prioritization. The funding year 2022 application filing window closed June 1, 2022 and, according to WCB, “[t]he estimated total RHC Program demand for funding year 2022 is $697.85 million, of which approximately $146.50 million represents demand for upfront payments and multi-year commitments in the Healthcare Connect Fund.”
Each year WCB, in consultation with the Office of the Managing Director, must determine the proportion of unused RHC funding that is available to be “carried forward” for use in future years. The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects that, as of June 30, 2022, $380.50 million in unused funds is available for use in future funding years beginning in funding year 2022. WCB has determined that 100% of the unused funds may be carried forward “to the extent necessary to satisfy funding year 2022 RHC Program demand.”
