§ 69.618 - Rural Health Care Corporation functions.

(a) The Rural Health Care Corporation shall perform the following functions as they relate to the support mechanisms for eligible rural health care providers:

(1) Administering the application process for rural health care providers, including the dissemination, processing, and review of applications for service from rural health care providers;

(2) Creating and maintaining a website on which applications for services will be posted on behalf of rural health care providers;

(3) Performing outreach and public education functions;

(4) Reviewing bills for services that are submitted by rural health care providers on which service providers designate the amount of universal service support they should receive for services rendered and on which rural health care providers and confirm that they have received such services;

(5) Monitoring demand for the purpose of determining when the $400 million cap has been reached in the case of the rural health care providers program;

(6) Submitting to the Commission all quarterly projections of demand and administrative expenses, as described in § 54.709(a)(3) of this chapter;

(7) Informing the independent subsidiary, as quickly as possible, but no later than 20 days following the Rural Health Care Corporation's receipt of the bills for services, of the amount of universal service support to be disbursed to service providers;

(8) Authorizing the performance of audits of rural health care provider beneficiaries of universal service support; and

(9) Any other function relating to the administration of the rural health care program that is not specifically assigned to the independent subsidiary.

(b) The Rural Health Care Corporation shall maintain books of account separate from those of the association, the independent subsidiary, and the Schools and Libraries Corporation. The Rural Health Care Corporation's books of account shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

(c) The Rural Health Care Corporation may borrow start-up funds from the association or the independent subsidiary, but such funds may not come from the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) fund or TRS administrative expense accounts.

(d) The Rural Health Care Corporation shall make available to whomever the Commission directs, free of charge, any and all intellectual property, including, but not limited to, all records and information generated by or resulting from its role in administering the rural health care program, if its participation in administering the rural health care program ends. The Rural Health Care Corporation must specify any property it proposes to exclude from the foregoing types of property based on the existence of such property prior to the incorporation of the Rural Health Care Corporation.