RHC will be closed Friday, November 27, 2009, the day after Thanksgiving

RHC will be closed Friday, November 27, 2009, the day after Thanksgiving.  The website will be open to post forms.  You may send questions to rhc-admin@universalservice.org or call 800-229-5476 and leave us a message.  We will reopen on Monday, November 30, 2009.

RHC Fund Year 2005 and 2006 closeouts

RHC is closing out Fund Years 2005 and 2006. Service Providers Click here to see if your name appears on this list. If your name is listed it means that RHC needs additional documentation in order to close out the FRN. Please email rhc-admin@universalservice.org or call 1-800-229-5476 if you need assistance in determining what is needed from RHC to complete the application process.

Service Providers: Changes to the Remittance Statement (11/3/09)

Beginning January 2010, USAC will issue remittance statements containing more information to better help Service Providers. In addition to the current information already provided, the new remittance statement will contain the service provider invoice number, health care provider (HCP) number, HCP name, and the Funding Request Number (FRN). Click here to see an example of the new remittance statement.

The importance of including the correct billing account number (BAN) on your FCC Form 466/466-A and FCC Form 467

In order to process your application for funding, USAC requires that all applicants indicate the correct billing account number (BAN) on their FCC Form 466/466-A and FCC Form 467.  Applicants should place the correct BAN in Line 28 of their Form 466, Line 22 of their Form 466-A, and Line 9 of their Form 467.  It is extremely important that applicants obtain the correct BAN from their service provider prior to filing any forms with USAC.  The BAN is typically found on the rural rate supporting documentation submitted with the Form 466 and Form 466A. Failure to provide the correct BAN will cause delays in processing your application for funding and delays in receiving credits from your service provider for eligible services. 

USAC highly recommends contacting your service provider to determine your BAN prior to filing your forms.  If you are unable to obtain this information from your service provider, please call our customer service center at 800-229-5476, or by email at rhc-admin@universalservice.org. 

RHC is now posting discussion summaries for our monthly outreach calls that occur on the 2nd Thursday of every month.

These summaries will be available a few days after the conference calls and will be posted to the Monthly Conference Call page on the website.

FCC Announces Mandatory Electronic Disbursement of USF Support Payments

The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau announced September 28 that all federal Universal Service Fund (USF) support payments must be made by electronic funds transfer (See Public Notice DA 09-2126).

The notice states that recipients of USF support payments shall provide their financial institution information and other relevant information on FCC Form 498, which is being updated to reflect these requirements.  USAC encourages all service providers to update their Form 498 information using USAC's E-File System. Once the updated 498 form is processed, all following support payments will be made electronically.

The Wireline Competition Bureau will issue a further public notice announcing the effective date of the electronic payment requirement. After the effective date, USAC will not make USF support payments to any entity that has not provided financial institution information sufficient to enable payment through electronic funds transfer.

Please note: Service providers in the Schools and Libraries Program that currently use the Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR Form 472) form will continue to receive check payments even if they provide electronic banking information until further notice.

If you have any questions, please contact USAC at (888) 641-8722 or customerservice@bcd.universalservice.org.

USAC is Going GREEN with Electronically Issued Funding Commitment Letters!

USAC will now begin issuing your Funding Commitment Letter (FCL) electronically.  The HCP contact (physical location contact) and the HCP mailing contact will now receive their FCL via email. Issuing FCLs through email will allow you to receive your FCL more quickly, reduce the amount of paper used, and help the environment. A hard copy of the FCL will still be sent to the HCP mailing contact.

In order to ensure that your FCL is sent to the correct individual, please check that all email and mailing addresses on your FCC Form 465 are up-to-date.

If you need to update your contact information or have any other questions or concerns about our new process, send us an e-mail and someone will contact you shortly.

As a reminder, please remember to print off a copy of your FCL to maintain for your records. Per USAC guidelines, all applicants and service providers are required to maintain documentation for 5 years. 

Learn More About RHC Funding for Redundant Circuits

Redundant, secondary or fail-over services (to be used in case of an outage) are eligible for support under the Rural Health Care program.  However, the cost and bandwidth of the service should reasonably reflect its use as a secondary service and the applicant should determine that it is the most cost-effective option available.  Applicants seeking such redundant services should indicate that on their FCC Form 465 so vendors can appropriately scale their response in the same manner as primary service bids are requested.  Once bids are received, the applicant should score each bid based on the needs of the HCP and determine which bid or bids is most cost-effective. 

Understanding the Application Process Webinar Presentation

Understanding the Application Process Webinar Presentation

Where is Rural Health Care?

USAC's Rural Health Care Division will be attending a number of conferences, meetings, and trainings over the next two months. Check out the Rural Health Care Division's Calendar for dates, locations, and more information.

Window Opening for Funding Year 2009

We are pleased to announce that the application window for Funding Year 2009 will open on Thursday, April 9, 2009.  Applicants will be able to post their Form 465 for Funding Year 2009 (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010).  Below are some tips and links to our website to help you with this process.

• To be eligible for a full year's support, an applicant must post Form 465 by June 2, 2009, unless you have an Evergreen Contract (see below). Remember you must wait 28-days for bids before entering into a service agreement.
• If you have an "Evergreen Contract " but might change your service or renew your contract during Fund Year 2009, you should post a Form 465. (Evergreen Contracts must have been verified by RHCD in a prior Fund Year.)
• If you have enabled E-Cert, go to Applicant Login to submit and post a Form 465. If you have not enabled E-Cert, but are eligible for E-Cert as a prior applicant, login and enable E-Cert before completing Form 465.

For other tips and best practices please follow this link to our website. If you have any questions please call our customer service center at (800) 229-5476.