Media Contact:
Joseph Calascione, (202) 418-2085
joseph.calascione@fcc.gov
 
For Immediate Release

FCC to Accept Applications for Carr’s Connected Care Pilot Program This Week

New $100 Million Initiative Builds off of Successful COVID-19 Telehealth Program

WASHINGTON, November 5, 2020—Today, the FCC announced that the filing window for the Connected Care Pilot program will open on Friday, November 6, 2020.  This initiative will make $100 million available for telehealth services provided to low-income patients and veterans.  Commissioner Brendan Carr has been leading the FCC’s efforts to develop the program over the past two years.  Carr has met with healthcare providers in their own communities—from Alaska to South Dakota to Mississippi—to inform the FCC’s initiative.  The early work done on the Connected Care Pilot program also provided the groundwork for establishing the successful COVID-19 emergency telehealth
program that the FCC stood up earlier this year.

On the announcement that the FCC would begin accepting applications for funding, Carr said “This new initiative is the healthcare equivalent of shifting from Blockbuster to Netflix.  With smartphones, tablets, and connected healthcare devices, patients no longer need to travel to brick-and-mortar facilities or meet in person with a doctor to receive high-quality care.  I am excited to get this program going because it will improve patient outcomes while cutting healthcare costs.

“When we first sought comment on expanding the FCC’s telehealth programs to support the delivery of high-quality care directly to Americans, we couldn’t have fully appreciated how important providing care at a distance would become.  But supporting this trend in telehealth has proven more important than ever before.  The FCC’s new Connected Care initiative can ensure that Americans receive quality care while continuing to maintain physical separation.  And it can be used to treat a wide range of health conditions—such as opioid dependency, diabetes, heart disease, mental health conditions, and high-risk pregnancy.  Focusing this initiative on low-income Americans and veterans will ensure that everyone has a fair shot at the benefits that this new trend in telehealth can deliver.

“It is heartening to see that a new model for providing healthcare—one I first learned about a few years ago while visiting health care providers in the Mississippi Delta—will benefit Americans across the country.”  

The public notice can be found here. 

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Office of Commissioner Brendan Carr: (202) 418-2200
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr