The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved an additional 100 funding applications totaling $47.8 million in the second round of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

Amid the spike in cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that extends for the next two years the requirement adopted at the beginning of the pandemic that health benefits plans must reimburse health care providers for telehealth and telemedicine services at the same rate as in-person services, with limited exceptions.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allocated an additional $42 million in the second round of funding for its COVID-19 Telehealth Program, bringing the program total to $166 million in funding.

As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers on, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order (EO) extending a prior EO that expanded access to telehealth services statewide.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved $41.98 million for Round 2 of its COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the increased adoption of telehealth services, but that positive development for technology-delivered services comes with both benefits and community equity challenges, Federal leaders said this week.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is leading a bipartisan group of 49 members of Congress urging Senate and House leadership to include in end-of-year legislation language to make permanent Medicare telehealth expansions that were enacted earlier this year.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order August 3 to make COVID-19 era changes to telehealth – such as telehealth coverage in Medicare programs and investments in telecommunications infrastructure – permanent after the pandemic ends.

Reps. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Sens. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., Doug Jones, D-Ala., introduced legislation in both chambers of Congress June 11 to invest $50 million in rural telehealth initiatives amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered nearly every aspect of American life, but changes to the way students learn and adults work has presented unique challenges to the U.S. broadband network.