([ongress of tl1e lIniteil S'tates
IlDhls!Jinyfon, lUlL 20515
June 21, 2012
The Honorable Julius Genachowski
Chainnan
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chainnan Genachowski:
In March 2011, we wrote to you concerning the current need for affordable high capacity
broadband services in the seven counties that comprise the Brazos Valley in Central Texas. Since
that time, health care providers in our rural communities remain without access to adequate and
affordable high-capacity services necessary to deliver cost effective, quality health care to the
rural and low-income residents of the area. A lack of competitive pricing and a shortage of high­
capacity services among local carriers leave our health care providers and their patients in this
area without access to state of-the-art diagnostic tools available at medical centers located in
more urban centers of the state. Consequently, our residents often must drive long distances to
these medical centers to acquire adequate health care, made increasingly unaffordable for them
on account of rising gas prices.
For these reasons, it is critical to the Brazos Valley that the Commission adopt its proposed
health infrastructure program as part of the reformed Rural Health Care Program by the end of
this year. Two years have passed since the Commission first issued its Rural Health Care
Program Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and this is more than sufficient time in our view to
develop a final rule for the program. Given statements by the Universal Service Administrative
Company, it will need 12 months to implement a refonned Rural Health Care Program, and we
are concerned that the Commission's failure to issue a final rule by the end of the year could
push the effective date of the program to 2014.
We continue to believe that a properly designed and administered health infrastructure program
offers the most cost effective and timely way of bring the benefits of telemedicine and remote
patient care to communities in the Brazos Valley. Beyond the immediate health care needs of our
rural and low-income residents, a refonned Rural Health Care Program is vital to meeting
national goals for increasing access and reducing the cost of health care through Health
lnfonnation Technology. Indeed, proposed Health and Human Services regulations concerning
the meaningful use of electronic health records recognize that such goals cannot be met in areas
of the country without adequate broadband access.
PAINTEO ON RECYCLED PAPER
We therefore urge the Commission to finalize its rule for the reformed Rural Health Care
Program by the end of this year, and include the Health Infrastructure Program originally
proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making.
Sincerely,
o Carter
ember of Congress
• fu~~artoIl~
Member of Congress
nJ1Jr~cJ
Michael McCaul
Member of Congress