Schatz, Others Press FCC for COVID-19 Telehealth Program Transparency
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Don Young, R-Alaska, pressed the FCC Thursday for more information on its $200 million COVID-19 telehealth program, citing continued transparency concerns. The…
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FCC awarded the last grants from the program in early July (see 2007080027). “We are concerned about the lack of transparency regarding this program,” the lawmakers said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. He said during a May briefing he would supply monthly reports on the program but “as of this writing, we have not seen any such reports.” The “lack of transparency was also apparent” at the Senate Commerce Committee’s June FCC oversight hearing (see 2006240069), when “you failed to explain how the metrics noticed in the Report and Order establishing the program, other than infection rate information, would be used to determine which applications should receive support” via the telehealth program,” the lawmakers said. “This suggests that the FCC preferred speed over transparency and fairness with regard to reviewing applications. As a result, applicants from several states did not receive funding, despite being seriously impacted by the crisis and eligible according to the program’s rules.” The lawmakers sought answers by July 30, including on how the FCC intends to “track, oversee, and evaluate the impact of the disbursed funds.” They also want to know how many applications the FCC received for the telehealth program, how much funding the applicants sought and how the FCC has “increased its capacity … to ensure against waste, fraud and abuse.” The FCC "acted quickly to create from scratch" the COVID-19 telehealth program "to expand the provision of vital telehealth services during this national emergency," a spokesperson emailed Friday. "We also administered the program in a transparent manner. For example, we publicized funding awards on a weekly basis and a full list of the funding awards can be found on the FCC's website. Moreover, the applications we received can be found in the docket."