,JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
March 8, 2013
The Honorable Al Franken
United States Senate
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Franken:
Thank you for your letter regarding the Universal Service Rural Health Care Fund. I
appreciate your interest in this matter and am pleased to provide the enclosed letter on this issue
from the Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau's Telecommunications Access Policy
Division.
If you have any additional questions or need any further assistance, please do not hesitate
to contact me.
erely,
Julius Genachowski
Enclosure
445 12TH STREET s.w. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20554 • 202-418-1000
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
March 8, 2013
The Honorable AI Franken
United States Senate
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Franken:
Thank you for your letter expressing your support for the Commission's 20 I0 proposal to
make skilled nursing facilities eligible for rural health care support.
On December 21, 2012, the Commission adopted the Healthcare Connect Fund Order,
which launched the new Healthcare Connect Fund to expand health care provider access to
broadband services and foster state and regional broadband health care networks. In addition, the
Commission created a new Skilled Nursing Facilities Pilot Program, which will be implemented
in 2014. This program will test how to support broadband connections for skilled nursing
facilities. The Commission has approved up to $50 million over a three-year period for the pilot
program. The text of the Order can be found on the Commission's website at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs public/attachmatch/FCC-12-150A I.doc
Thank you for your interest in this important matter, and please do not hesitate to contact
me if I can be of further assistance.