Federal Communications Commission DA 20-425 DA 20-425 Released: April 17, 2020 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU AND OFFICE OF MANAGING DIRECTOR PROVIDE INVOICING GUIDANCE FOR THE COVID-19 TELEHEALTH PROGRAM WC Docket No. 20-89 On April 2, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released an order establishing the COVID-19 Telehealth Program to provide $200 million in immediate support to eligible health care providers responding to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by funding their telecommunications services, information services, and connected devices necessary to provide critical connected care services. Promoting Telehealth for Low-Income Consumers; COVID-19 Telehealth Program, WC Docket Nos. 18-213 and 20-89, Report and Order, FCC 20-44, paras. 15-36 (2020) (Report and Order). The $200 million in funding was appropriated by Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to help health care providers provide connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. CARES Act, Pub. L. No 116-136, 134 Stat. 281 (2020). In the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, funding recipients will not be expected to pay a percentage of the award amount. This differs from the Connected Care Pilot Program (Pilot Program), in that the Pilot Program will provide universal service fund support for 85% of the cost of eligible services and equipment funded by the Pilot Program. Report and Order, para. 43. On April 13, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) began accepting applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program on the Commission’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program page, and will be making funding decisions on a rolling basis until the program’s funds have been expended or the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. Wireline Competition Bureau Announces COVID-19 Telehealth Program Application Portal Will Open Monday, WC Docket No. 20-89, Public Notice, DA 20-403 (WCB Apr. 10, 2020). This Public Notice provides guidance for those applicants that receive funding commitments (funding recipients) on how to invoice the Commission for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program-funded services and/or connected devices. Under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, disbursements will be issued directly to the participating health care providers, rather than to the service providers or vendors that have provided the eligible services and/or connected devices to participating health care providers. Report and Order, para. 29. Thus, following the eligible health care provider’s receipt of, and payment for, eligible services and/or connected devices, funding recipients may begin to submit invoices for those eligible services and/or connected devices to the Commission on a monthly basis against the amount indicated in their funding commitment notification. The Application Public Notice provides information about the services and connected devices eligible to receive funding support through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Wireline Competition Bureau Provides Guidance on the COVID-19 Telehealth Application Process, WC Docket No. 20-89, Public Notice, DA 20-394, at 4 (WCB Apr. 8, 2020) (Application Public Notice). Any funding received by a consortium applicant on behalf of eligible health care provider(s) shall be provided to such health care provider(s) to reimburse them for their respective costs incurred under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Invoices should not be sent to the Commission other than through the designated platform, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). The IPP is already used by the Commission to accept invoices from and make payments to the Commission’s program partners. The IPP is Treasury-supported, approved by the Office of Management and Budget, and is provided free of charge. Funding recipients (the entity that submitted the application and receiving the funding) can prepare to submit invoices and receive payments for COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding by taking the following steps: (1) review, prepare and gather documentation required for invoice submission, including the COVID-19 Telehealth Program Request for Reimbursement Form and Instructions, which are available on the Commission’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program webpage at www.fcc.gov/covid19telehealth and any supporting invoice documentation (for consortium funding recipients, this must include documentation (e.g., letter) from participating eligible health care providers that authorizes the consortium funding recipient to receive funding on their behalf and provide such funding to the health care providers to reimburse them for their respective costs incurred under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program); and (2) if not already enrolled in the IPP, become familiar with this platform and follow the instructions for enrollment that are sent by email from the IPP. We also remind funding recipients, as explained in the Application Public Notice, that they must register with the System for Award Management. See Application Public Notice, at 6. These steps are explained in further detail below. Prepare COVID-19 Telehealth Program Request for Reimbursement Form Funding recipients seeking to invoice the Commission for services and/or connected devices eligible for COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding must invoice through the IPP. Any funding received by a consortium funding recipient on behalf of the eligible health care provider(s) shall be provided to such health care provider(s) to reimburse them for their respective costs incurred under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. As part of this process, funding recipients must upload the following documents as attachments to their invoice submission in the IPP: (1) a completed COVID-19 Telehealth Program Request for Reimbursement Form (the form is available at www.fcc.gov/covid19telehealth); (2) supporting documents that identify the eligible services and/or connected devices purchased and received, and price paid (e.g., invoices, vendor and service provider quotes identifying the costs, or other similar information and actual documentation of payment) and, for consortium funding recipients, an authorization, as described above, from each eligible health care provider included in their application. The actual wording on the COVID-19 Telehealth Program Request for Reimbursement Form may vary slightly from this Public Notice but generally will request: Ø Applicant name Ø Funding Commitment Number Ø FCC Registration Number (FRN) Ø Applicant National Provider Identifier (NPI) (if applicable) Ø Contact information and position title for the individual that will be responsible for the reimbursement form (telephone number, mailing address, and email address) Ø Health Care Provider name(s) Ø Health Care Provider number(s) Ø Service provider or vendor name (name of entity providing the eligible telecommunications services, eligible information services or eligible device(s)) Ø Billing period start and end date Ø Description of service and/or connected device(s) purchased Ø Service location or delivery location Ø Delivery date Ø Service period for recurring services Ø Quantity of connected device(s) Ø Per unit cost of connected device(s) Ø Total cost for each line item Ø Total amount paid for eligible services and/or connected device(s) for which reimbursement is requested The COVID-19 Telehealth Program Request for Reimbursement Form will also include several certifications to ensure program integrity and compliance with COVID-19 Telehealth Program rules, requirements and procedures, the CARES Act, and any other applicable federal and state laws. The certifications must be made and signed by the authorized person (generally, the primary contact for the application) who is making the certifications. Utilize the IPP The Commission uses the IPP to facilitate the electronic exchange of purchase orders, invoices, and payment information to its vendors and will use the IPP to facilitate the receipt of invoices for COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding. Payments will be transmitted from the U.S. Department of Treasury after being approved in the Commission’s financial system. The IPP is a service provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. This platform was designed to help the Commission and other federal agencies streamline the invoice process and is provided at no cost to entities doing business with a participating government agency. We provide guidance below for invoicing the Commission for COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding using the IPP and provide some additional information for users that may be new to IPP functionality. For all selected participants: All applicants that have received funding commitments will need to refer to their funding commitment notification for COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding during the invoice process. Funding disbursements under the COVID-19 Telehealth Program will ultimately be made to the entity listed on the funding commitment notification. The notification will list a Funding Commitment Number. When logging into the IPP, the funding recipient should search for the Funding Commitment Number to invoice against the award amount. The funding recipient should then fill in the invoice fields based on the invoice amounts and documentation received from the service providers and/or vendors and amounts paid for eligible services and connected devices for which reimbursement is requested. Before submitting the invoice, the funding recipient must upload the COVID-19 Telehealth Program Request for Reimbursement Form referenced above and any supporting documentation, including invoice documentation from the service providers and/or vendors and, for consortium funding recipients, authorization documentation from each eligible health care provider. To attach these documents, the funding recipient should navigate to the upper right-hand side of the invoice where it is entering data and click the “Attachments” button. From there, any attachments to be submitted with the invoice can be uploaded. The attachments are required for the Commission to process the invoice. If you are already enrolled in the IPP: Funding recipients that are already registered to use the IPP, need not re-register in the IPP. If you are NOT already enrolled in the IPP: Funding recipients not already registered to use the IPP will receive registration emails from IPP to register in the IPP after the Commission initiates the enrollment process. The Commission will use the first and last name, and email from the funding recipient to start this process and will use the contact information provided by the funding recipient on its application for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program for these purposes. After that, the funding recipient will receive two emails from IPP Customer Support to enroll: · The first email contains the initial administrative IPP User ID. · The second email, sent within 24 hours of receipt of the first email, contains a temporary password. Funding recipients must log in with the temporary password within 30 days. Registration is complete when the user logs into the IPP web site with the User ID and password provided and accepts the rules of behavior. IPP User Training: IPP user training materials are available on the IPP.gov website at https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/training-vendors. Also, once a funding recipient logs in to the IPP application, it will have access to user guides that provide step-by-step instructions for all IPP capabilities, ranging from creating and submitting an invoice to setting up email notifications. For answers to frequently asked questions, visit the Vendor FAQ page on the IPP.gov website. Additional Support: Telephone support for the IPP is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm ET. Any questions regarding IPP enrollment, may be directed to the IPP Customer Support Helpdesk via email: IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov or by phone: (866) 973-3131. Finally, we remind funding recipients that to receive payments through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, they must be registered with the federal System for Award Management. To register with the system, go to https://www.sam.gov/SAM/. Please refer to the Application Public Notice issued by the Bureau on April 8, 2020 for more details. Additional Information. For further information regarding this Public Notice, please contact Regina Brown, Attorney-Advisor, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, regina.brown@fcc.gov or (202) 418-0792, or Cara Voth, Counsel, Office of Managing Director, cara.voth@fcc.gov or (202) 418-0025. For more information about the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, refer to the Commission’s website at www.fcc.gov/covid19telehealth. -FCC- 4