Today's Regulatory Mix: Senators Introduce Bipartisan Telehealth Bill, FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel Releases New Podcast Episode

Senators Introduce Bipartisan Telehealth Bill

In a press release, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Angus King (I-Maine), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) announced the introduction of the Health Care Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act.  The new bipartisan bill directs $2 billion to help health care providers increase their broadband capacity and expand telehealth services during the current public health crisis.

“During this pandemic, telehealth services are helping families receive the critical health care they need,” said Senator Schatz. “Our bill will provide much-needed funding to help hospitals improve their connectivity so they can care for more patients.”

“The Rural Health Care Program is an integral piece of providing quality healthcare to Alaskans in small, remote communities—many of which are not connected to a road system. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the demand for telehealth. Unfortunately, as a result, the Rural Health Care Program has already outpaced the funding it was allocated prior to the outbreak and telehealth providers are facing significant connectivity challenges in their effort to provide care,” said Senator Murkowski. “As we navigate the challenges of COVID-19, and ease the restrictions for telehealth use, the demand for this program will only continue to increase. This legislation is imperative to enable healthcare providers to increase their broadband capacity and expand their ability to provide healthcare to those in need.”

FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel Releases New Podcast Episode

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced the release of another episode of Broadband Conversations, the podcast uplifting the voices of women from the innovation, technology, and media sectors.  Listeners get to hear what these leading women are doing, how they are making a difference, and what they think the future of our digital life can look like.  This episode features Julie Samuels, Executive Director of TECH: NYC.  Julie has had a long and distinguished career in technology, that includes running a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to entrepreneurship to litigating intellectual property cases to working at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.