Goto Section: 54.638 | 54.640 | Table of Contents
FCC 54.639
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 |
2016
§ 54.639 Ineligible expenses.
(a) Equipment or services not directly associated with eligible services.
Expenses associated with equipment or services that are not necessary to
make an eligible service functional, or to manage, control, or maintain an
eligible service or a dedicated health care broadband network are ineligible
for support.
Note to paragraph (a): The following are examples of ineligible expenses:
1. Costs associated with general computing, software, applications, and
Internet content development are not supported, including the following:
i. Computers, including servers, and related hardware (e.g., printers,
scanners, laptops), unless used exclusively for network management,
maintenance, or other network operations;
ii. End user wireless devices, such as smartphones and tablets;
iii. Software, unless used for network management, maintenance, or other
network operations;
iv. Software development (excluding development of software that supports
network management, maintenance, and other network operations);
v. Helpdesk equipment and related software, or services, unless used
exclusively in support of eligible services or equipment;
vi. Web server hosting;
vii. Web site portal development;
viii. Video/audio/web conferencing equipment or services; and
ix. Continuous power source.
2. Costs associated with medical equipment (hardware and software), and
other general health care provider expenses are not supported, including the
following:
i. Clinical or medical equipment;
ii. Telemedicine equipment, applications, and software;
iii. Training for use of telemedicine equipment;
iv. Electronic medical records systems; and
v. Electronic records management and expenses.
(b) Inside wiring/internal connections. Expenses associated with inside
wiring or internal connections are ineligible for support under the
Healthcare Connect Fund.
(c) Administrative expenses. Administrative expenses are not eligible for
support under the Healthcare Connect Fund.
Note to paragraph (c): Ineligible administrative expenses include, but not
limited to, the following expenses:
1. Personnel costs (including salaries and fringe benefits), except for
personnel expenses in a consortium application that directly relate to
designing, engineering, installing, constructing, and managing a dedicated
broadband network. Ineligible costs of this category include, for example,
personnel to perform program management and coordination, program
administration, and marketing;
2. Travel costs, except for travel costs that are reasonable and necessary
for network design or deployment and that are specifically identified and
justified as part of a competitive bid for a construction project;
3. Legal costs;
4. Training, except for basic training or instruction directly related to
and required for broadband network installation and associated network
operations;
5. Program administration or technical coordination (e.g., preparing
application materials, obtaining letters of agency, preparing request for
proposals, negotiating with vendors, reviewing bids, and working with the
Administrator) that involves anything other than the design, engineering,
operations, installation, or construction of the network;
6. Administration and marketing costs (e.g., administrative costs; supplies
and materials, except as part of network installation/construction;
marketing studies, marketing activities, or outreach to potential network
members; evaluation and feedback studies);
7. Billing expenses (e.g., expense that vendors may charge for allocating
costs to each health care provider in a network);
8. Helpdesk expenses (e.g., equipment and related software, or services);
and
9. Technical support services that provide more than basic maintenance.
(d) Cost allocation for ineligible sites, services, or equipment—(1)
Ineligible sites. Eligible health care provider sites may share expenses
with ineligible sites, as long as the ineligible sites pay their fair share
of the expenses. An applicant may seek support for only the portion of a
shared eligible expense attributable to eligible health care provider sites.
To receive support, the applicant must ensure that ineligible sites pay
their fair share of the expense. The fair share is determined as follows:
(i) If the vendor charges a separate and independent price for each site, an
ineligible site must pay the full undiscounted price.
(ii) If there is no separate and independent price for each site, the
applicant must prorate the undiscounted price for the “shared” service,
equipment, or facility between eligible and ineligible sites on a
proportional fully-distributed basis. Applicants must make this cost
allocation using a method that is based on objective criteria and reasonably
reflects the eligible usage of the shared service, equipment, or facility.
The applicant bears the burden of demonstrating the reasonableness of the
allocation method chosen.
(2) Ineligible components of a single service or piece of equipment.
Applicants seeking support for a service or piece of equipment that includes
an ineligible component must explicitly request in their requests for
proposals that vendors include pricing for a comparable service or piece of
equipment that is comprised of only eligible components. If the selected
provider also submits a price for the eligible component on a stand-alone
basis, the support amount is calculated based on the stand-alone price of
the eligible component on a stand-alone basis. If the vendor does not offer
the eligible component on a stand-alone basis, the full price of the entire
service or piece of equipment must be taken into account, without regard to
the value of the ineligible components, when determining the most
cost-effective bid.
(3) Written description. Applicants must submit a written description of
their allocation method(s) to the Administrator with their funding requests.
(4) Written agreement. If ineligible entities participate in a network, the
allocation method must be memorialized in writing, such as a formal
agreement among network members, a master services contract, or for smaller
consortia, a letter signed and dated by all (or each) ineligible entity and
the Consortium Leader.
[ 78 FR 13987 , Mar. 1, 2013]
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Goto Section: 54.638 | 54.640
Goto Year: 2014 |
2016
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