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S. 1916, Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2015 1 (March 24, 2016)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2851 and id is 1 raw text is: 




                  CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                              COST ESTIMATE

                                                                  March 24, 2016


                                   S. 1916
                Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2015

As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
                              on November 18, 2015


SUMMARY

S. 1916 would make certain skilled nursing facilities eligible for grants under the Universal
Service Fund's (USF's) Rural Health Care (RHC) program. The Universal Service
program is administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is
intended to promote the availability of telecommunications services at affordable rates.
The cash flows of the USF appear in the budget as direct spending (for amounts distributed
from the fund) and as revenues (for fund collections).

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1916 would increase direct spending by $197 million over
the 2017-2026 period and result in increased revenue collections of $215 million over the
same period, resulting in an estimated net reduction in the deficit of $18 million. CBO
estimates that implementing the bill would have no significant discretionary costs.
Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect direct
spending and revenues.

CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or
on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in one or more of the four consecutive 10-year
periods beginning in 2027.

S. 1916 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA). CBO expects the FCC would increase fee collections associated
with the USF to offset some of the costs of expanding the Rural Health Care program. As a
result, the bill would increase the cost of an existing mandate on private entities required to
pay those fees. Based on information from the FCC, CBO estimates that the cost of the
mandate would amount to no more than $25 million in any of the next five years. Thus, the
aggregate cost of the mandate would fall below the annual threshold established in UMRA
for private-sector mandates ($154 million in 2016, adjusted annually for inflation).

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