In Session Law 2023-134, the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) appropriated $5,000,000 in SFY 2024 and $15,000,000 in SFY 2025 in receipts (State funds) from the ARPA Temporary Savings Fund to the Office of Rural Health (ORH) in the Department of Health and Human Services to provide competitive grants to rural healthcare providers for Telehealth related items including:
- equipment
- high-speed internet access
- telehealth-related training to staff and patients
- technology equipment to patients
- internet service support for patients to help facilitate telehealth access*
- other infrastructure needed to establish telehealth services
*Eligible rural healthcare patients can benefit from internet service and associated equipment rentals, including modems, routers, and hotspot devices through the Telehealth Infrastructure grant.
To receive this support, patients must meet at least one of the eligibility criteria defined below:
- Total household income that is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines or,
- Participation in any ONE of these government benefit programs:
- Lifeline
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Medicaid
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA) (including Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program (Section 8 Vouchers), Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA)/202/811, Public Housing, and Affordable Housing Programs for American Indians)
- Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch or Breakfast Program including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision
- Federal Pell Grant (current award year)
- Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
All rural, North Carolina-based primary care practices, including independent primary care and independent Ob-Gyn practices are eligible to apply, and priority is given to these types of practices.
