PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 21, 2020
Health Care Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act
This bill temporarily expands the Rural Health Care Program of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). It also establishes and provides funding for the Emergency Rural Health Care Connectivity Fund through FY2022 to carry out the Rural Health Care Program.
Currently, the FCC subsidizes 65% of the cost of broadband for eligible public and nonprofit rural health care facilities through the Rural Health Care Program. This bill expands the program to encompass health care providers not located in rural areas, including mobile and temporary facilities, and it increases the subsidy rate to 85%.
The bill also requires the FCC to (1) promulgate regulations to expedite the receipt of funds under the program, and (2) release funding for all requests within a designated time frame.
People & committees
Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] · D–HI
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.3838 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.3838 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.3838 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.3838 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.