Today: FCC Fines Rural Health Care Provider, Universal Service Fund Rural Health Care Program 

FCC Fines Rural Health Care Provider

The FCC proposed an $18,715,405 fine against DataConnex for apparent violations involving the Universal Service Fund Rural Health Care (RHC) Program.  The Florida- and Mississippi-based telecommunications services provider is charged with violating the Communications Act and the program’s competitive bidding rules and using forged, false, misleading, and unsubstantiated documents to improperly seek funding from the USF.  The wrongful conduct cited in the Notice of Apparent Liability includes, but is not limited to the following:

• engaging in an undisclosed multiyear financial relationship with a RHC Program consultant through which DataConnex gained an unfair advantage in the competitive bidding process;
• steering healthcare providers to this RHC Program consultant and paying more than $200,000 to a company owned by the consultant over a two-year period during which time DataConnex received dozens of contracts from healthcare providers represented by this same consultant;
• making monthly payments to a company owned by the RHC Program consultant which were directly tied to six contracts DataConnex was awarded by healthcare providers represented by the same consultant;
• reaching agreements in principle with the RHC Program consultant that healthcare providers would award the contract to DataConnex before the required competitive-bidding period ended; and
• using documents containing forged, false, misleading, and unsubstantiated information, including material misrepresentations, to increase its receipt of payments from the Telecom Program; and submitting payment requests based upon service contracts tainted by violations of FCC rules.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily 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.