To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs.
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Would reauthorize two federal grant programs — the telehealth network program and telehealth resource centers program — through fiscal year 2030, authorizing roughly $42 million per year to expand access to health care in rural and medically underserved areas.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would reauthorize existing grant programs under Section 330I of the Public Health Service Act that support telehealth networks and telehealth resource centers, which are administered by the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It would do so by adding an explicit authorization of $42,050,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
The bill makes a single targeted amendment to existing law — it adds a new funding authorization paragraph for the five-year period — and does not restructure the underlying programs, change eligibility criteria, or alter how grants are administered. The programs themselves would continue to function as currently established, connecting health care providers and related entities with resources to build telehealth capacity in underserved communities.
Key provisions
- 1Would authorize $42,050,000 per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs.
Who would be affected
Health care providers, clinics, and related entities in rural and medically underserved areas that receive or compete for telehealth network grants; telehealth resource centers that offer training and technical assistance; and the patients in underserved communities who rely on telehealth services these programs help fund.
Why it matters
Without reauthorization, the grant programs could lose their explicit funding authority after the prior authorization period lapses, potentially reducing or interrupting federal support for telehealth infrastructure in areas with limited in-person care options. Extending the authorization through FY2030 gives HRSA and grant recipients a five-year funding horizon to plan and sustain telehealth services.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Reauthorizes Public Health Service Act, Section 330I (42 U.S.C. 254c-14) (Sec. 1)
Adds a new authorization of $42,050,000 per year for FY2026 through FY2030 for telehealth network and resource center grants.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- New funding authorization for telehealth grant programs begins
Funding and costs
- $42,050,000
Telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs supporting rural and underserved-area health care access
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 3419 would cost $157 million in discretionary spending (subject to appropriation) over the 2026–2031 period, with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
H.R. 3419 would reauthorize and fund two Health Resources and Services Administration telehealth grant programs — the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers programs — by authorizing $42 million per year from 2027 through 2030. Because the programs were already funded through 2026, CBO's estimate captures only post-2026 appropriations, projecting $157 million in outlays (discretionary spending that requires future congressional action) over the 2026–2031 period and $7 million in additional outlays after 2031. The bill has no effect on direct (mandatory) spending or revenues, does not trigger statutory pay-as-you-go procedures, and contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates.
How implementation would work
HRSA's Office for the Advancement of Telehealth would continue administering the grant programs under the existing statutory framework. The reauthorization simply restores and extends the spending authority; grant cycles, eligibility, application processes, and reporting requirements already in place under Section 330I of the Public Health Service Act would remain unchanged. Annual appropriations would still be required to actually disburse funds up to the authorized level.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Official CRS summary
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This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 grant programs to support telehealth networks and telehealth resource centers, which are administered by the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth within the Health Resources and Services Administration. These programs provide grants to health care providers and related entities to establish telehealth networks that expand access to and improve the quality of health care services and information in rural and medically underserved areas and for medically underserved populations.
Legislative subjects
Computers and information technology; Health; Health care coverage and access; Health programs administration and funding; Health technology, devices, supplies
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-322