scon R. TIPTON 
3RO 01STAICT, COLORADO 
218 CANNON HOVSE OFFICE BUILDING 
(202) 225-4761 
Tom Wheeler 
Chairman 
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April 2, 2015 
Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street, SW 
Room TWA325 
Washington, DC 20554 
Dear Chairman Wheeler: 
FINANCIAL SERVICES 
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I write to urge the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to give appropriate and 
due consideration to the American Association of Healthcare Administrative 
Management's (AAHAM) pending Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling and 
Exemption. 
As you know, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCP A) passed by Congress in 
1991 serves an important role in ensuring consumers are not inundated with 
telemarketing calls. However, technology and the way in which consumers communicate 
today have changed dramatically. For example, almost forty percent of homes are now 
wireless only, whereas, in 1991, ninety percent of homes had a landline. Granting this 
Petition will ensure that the TCP A continues to function effectively without hampering 
technological advancement, despite the tectonic shift in communication preferences 
among consumers. 
I continue to believe that any future changes to the TCP A must ensure that consumers are 
provided all the safeguards against unwanted telemarketing calls. The AAHAM Petition 
does not open up any loopholes for telemarketing calls and is very narrowly focused on 
necessary healthcare related calls. The AAHAM Petition simply requests that the FCC 
confirm for providers that when a patient comes into their facility and provides them with 
a contact phone number, that this is the expressed consent providers need in order to use 
that number for any necessary follow-up calls. 
Many of these calls are time sensitive, designed to provide patients with timely and 
critical updates about their health. However, due to the vagueness of the TCPA, many 
health care providers have been swept up in class action lawsuits for violating the statute 
and a continuing lack of certainty may produce a chilling effect on providers and 
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discourage them from proactively providing patients with medical information. Some of 
those healthcare related calls include: 
• Appointment and exam confirmations and reminders; 
• Wellness checkups; 
• Hospital pre-registration instructions; 
• Pre-operative instructions; 
• Lab results; 
• Post-discharge follow-up intended to prevent readmission; 
• Prescription notifications; 
• Home healthcare instructions; 
• Available payment options; 
• Insurance coverage outreach and eligibility (e.g., to notify a patient that insurance 
coverage or payment is available for a service that has been provided); 
• Account communications and payment notifications 
• Social Security disability eligibility; and 
• "Health care messages" as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act (HIP AA). 
The Commission has repeatedly confirmed that previously providing one's phone number 
in other, non-health care related transactions satisfies the conditions for "prior express 
consent." What AAHAM seeks in their Petition is a confirmation from the Commission 
that health care is no different from any number of other industries who contact their 
customers. Furthennore, clarifying this requirement would bring the Commission's 
definition in line with that of the Courts, who have repeatedly found that "prior express 
consent" exists in cases where an individual provided their telephone number on hospital 
or insurance company fonns, and with other administrative agencies who require health 
care providers contact patients. 
Yesterday's method of sending patients information via the mail is no longer an effective 
way to reach patients, as all too often this information gets thrown out as junk mail. As 
you can see by the numbers above, cell phone usage has grown significantly since the 
TCPA was first implemented. Consumers have kept pace with new technologies, but the 
government and our well-intended regulations have not. 
Technology has been interwoven into our daily lives and it will only become more 
important in coming years. If we want healthcare costs to come down, we need to allow 
changes to regulations that may not be keeping pace with the technological advancements 
they are supposed to be regulating. AAHAM is not asking for a blanket exemption, but 
instead has narrowly focused its Petition and request on calls that are directly related to 
the health of patients. AAHAM supports conditions on their members' ability to contact 
their patients adopted by the Commission in the Cargo Airline Association Order. 
This Petition is a narrow and common sense clarification of the TCP A. By granting this 
Petition, the Commission would ensure that health care providers can continue to offer 
timely, critical, and tailored medical care for their patients while guaranteeing that the 
TCP A keeps pace with technological innovation and changing consumer preferences. 
For these reasons, I urge the FCC to grant this Petition in whole. 
Sincerely, 
~;pa .. 
Scott Tipton 
Member of Congress