Launching in May 2026, NCoH is a national industry coalition to advance a targeted policy solution: ensuring that essential healthcare data does not count against consumer cellular data plans for those using pre-paid or fixed cellphone plans with data caps. Healthcare access should work when patients need it, not when their data plan allows it.

This effort focuses on a narrow, clearly defined category of essential healthcare traffic—telehealth visits, remote monitoring, and clinical communications—that, when accessible, reduces system-wide costs and improves patient outcomes.

This approach is evidence-driven. Academic, peer-reviewed, research from CTeL partners shows that reliable access to virtual care via cellular connectivity reduces emergency room utilization and lowers overall healthcare costs. Preserving access to care upstream prevents more expensive care downstream.

Emergency departments are designed for acute care, not ongoing or specialty management. When the data runs out, many low-income, rural, and/or otherwise vulnerable patients’ only access points for healthcare then reverts to costly emergency department settings. This drains the clinical workforce which is already experiencing staffing shortages, creates unreimbursable costs to the medical system, and increases liability for providers due to higher patient totals.

Eliminating data caps for prepaid & fixed cell phone plans reduces unnecessary costs on the American medical system and supports patients getting the care they need, in a setting fit for purpose. The NCoH Coalition is galvanizing to solve a significant problem with a simple, cost-cutting, and potentially lifesaving solution: treat digital data for essential healthcare like 911 calls—zero them out.

CTeL has worked through collaborative policy change for more than 30 years to improve access to care to patients through research backed policy changes. Telehealth cannot bridge the care divide without proper connectivity. The NCoH Coalition is a gathering of experts to help make sure that digital health services are available to the most vulnerable, who are often dependent on cellular data to access healthcare services.

The NCoH Coalition is actively seeking partners to lend their expertise and voice to one of the most solvable healthcare access challenges of our time. Your support does more than just fund our mission; it helps shape it. Coalition members participate directly in independent research, policy discussions, and advocacy that will influence and advance our agenda to eliminate data barriers to healthcare.