January 4, 2023
Happy new year! After a busy 2022, we’re ready to get things off to a productive start for 2023. Here’s what we have lined up for our first open meeting of the year.
- We’re making sure life-saving counseling is there when you need it. Established in 2022, the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has made it easier than ever for people in need to receive crisis counseling. The Commission will consider a proposal to establish reporting and notice requirements for any 988 outages. Similar outage reporting rules for 911 have helped us to identify vulnerabilities and to improve the reliability of that system. We aim to be able to do the same with 988.
- We’re improving support for digital health in rural America. The Commission’s Rural Health Care Program expands access to telehealth and telemedicine services by providing financial support to eligible health care providers for high-speed broadband connections. These telehealth services make it much easier for patients in rural areas with fewer doctors to receive high-quality medical care. The Commission will vote on a package of proposals to resolve questions about the program. If adopted, these changes would make it easier for health care providers to receive support, reduce delays in funding commitments, and improve the program’s overall efficiency.
- We will consider an adjudicatory matter from our Media Bureau.
- We will also consider an action from our Enforcement Bureau.
—Jessica