by Whittney Walker,VP of Telecom Services, Community Hospital Corporation

care access in rural areas could be severely disrupted if a Supreme Court case on a vital government-subsidized broadband services program is ruled unconstitutional.

After hearing oral arguments in March 2025, Supreme Court justices are expected in June to rule on the case brought by Consumers’ Research, a conservative advocacy group.

The case challenged whether the Federal Communications Commission overstepped its authority in allowing the Universal Service Fund to subsidize services for rural hospitals and other health care facilities, schools, libraries, and low-income individuals. In 2022, disbursements totaled $7.4 billion across all programs.

The high court agreed to review the case after the FCC appealed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling last year, which sided with Consumers’ Research’s claim that the USF funding mechanism violates constitutional requirements.

Read the full article published by the National Rural Health Association.