HJR 14: Urging the Federal Communications Commission to increase the Rural Health Care Program budget sufficiently to adjust for inflation, advances in technology and the services available with increased broadband, and the increase in demand for broadband-based services and provide for any unused funds to be carried forward to future funding years, ensuring that rural communities in the state continue to have access to affordable broadband telehealth services.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14 01 Urging the Federal Communications Commission to increase the Rural Health Care 02 Program budget sufficiently to adjust for inflation, advances in technology and the 03 services available with increased broadband, and the increase in demand for 04 broadband-based services and provide for any unused funds to be carried forward to 05 future funding years, ensuring that rural communities in the state continue to have 06 access to affordable broadband telehealth services. 07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 WHEREAS the Federal Communication Commission's Rural Health Care Program is 09 essential in enabling providers to deliver affordable telehealth services in the rural 10 communities of the state; and 11 WHEREAS the Rural Health Care Program budget has remained static for 20 years, 12 and the current $400,000,000 budget remains at the initial level set in 1997, despite inflation, 13 advances in technology, and increased demand for services; and 14 WHEREAS the Federal Communications Commission recently updated the E-rate
01 budget for schools, from $2,250,000,000 in 1997 to $3,940,000,000 in 2015, and indexed it 02 for inflation, reflecting increases in demand; and 03 WHEREAS the Federal Communications Commission expects that demand may 04 exceed the cap for the first time in 2017, and an equivalent budget today, adjusted for 05 inflation, would be approximately $600,000,000; and 06 WHEREAS, in 2015, state rural health care providers received more than 07 $82,000,000, 20.5 percent of the total budget, in rural health care support, an increase of 35 08 percent, in dollars, from 2014; and 09 WHEREAS rural health care support enables telehealth services to be provided that 10 dramatically improve access to care, including mental and behavioral health care and 11 substance abuse services; accelerate diagnosis and treatment; avoid unnecessary medivacs; 12 and expand local treatment options; and 13 WHEREAS the state has no funding obligation to the Rural Health Care Universal 14 Service Support Fund; 15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Federal 16 Communications Commission to increase the Rural Health Care Program budget sufficiently 17 to adjust for inflation, advances in technology and the services available with increased 18 broadband, and the increase in demand for broadband-based services; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Federal 20 Communications Commission to index the Rural Health Care Program budget for inflation 21 and provide for any unused funds to be carried forward to future funding years, ensuring that 22 rural communities in the state continue to have access to affordable broadband telehealth 23 services, critical for improving access to care. 24 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, Federal 25 Communications Commission; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan 26 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the 27 Alaska delegation in Congress.