Recoup your broadband and telecom costs.
CommHIT’s FCC-approved consortium helps eligible health and learning organizations get reimbursed for internet and telecommunications through the FCC’s Healthcare Connect Fund.
Who is eligible
Is your organization on the list?
If you are one of these provider types, you may be able to recover what you spend on high-speed internet and telecommunications.
- Community health centers
- Community mental health centers
- Skilled nursing facilitiesEligible since January 1, 2017
- Rural health clinics
- Local health departments
- Non-profit hospitals
- For-profit rural hospitalsWith a dedicated emergency room
- Post-secondary learning institutions
The Healthcare Connect Fund
Reimbursement, not a loan or a grant.
The fund pays back, and in some cases pays in advance, eligible broadband and telecom expenses for organizations that submit proper requests. Its purpose is better rural health care built on high-speed internet.
How it works
We do the paperwork. You get the funds.
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1
Sign three short agreements
They let us act for you with the FCC and your providers. We answer any questions your legal team has.
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2
We file for eligibility
During the FCC’s one or two annual application windows, the consortium submits your eligibility documents.
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3
We recoup the funds
Once you are deemed eligible, we track the process and keep up with the paperwork for you.
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4
You get a heads-up
We tell your finance team when the funds will show up on a given invoice.
Getting started
Three agreements start the process.
USAC is the company the FCC commissioned to run this federal program. Once these are signed, we can begin your eligibility determination.
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01
Letter of Agency
USAC-approved. Lists each of your sites, and we can help you build that list. Required by the FCC before we can start.
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02
Third-party authorization
USAC-approved. Lets us contact your broadband and telecom providers for the documentation your application needs.
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03
Consortium agreement
A short agreement with our team that explains what the consortium does for you.
Eligibility follows section 254(h)(7)(B) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, in which Congress directed the FCC to support qualifying rural health care providers’ communications services. Skilled nursing facilities were added on January 1, 2017.