Using Broadband to Address the Health Care Crisis

America's health care system is in crisis. The cost of health care soars out of control. Nearly 50 million Americans, including 8 million children, live without health insurance. Americans are not living as long as citizens of many other developed nations that spend far less on health care. Many assert that Americans pay more for health care, yet are in fact less healthy. Telecommunications technology such as broadband offers a tremendous opportunity to make America healthier and allow Americans to live longer, while at the same time saving our nation what some have estimated to be as much as $165 billion a year. Two of the most promising telecommunications applications that are already improving health care while at the same time reducing costs are "telehealth" and digital health information technology. Widespread adoption of these technologies will significantly stimulate both the build-out, and demand, for universal, affordable, and robust broadband.