Ten Things About ACP that Ted Cruz Cares About #3 Net Cost Savings to Government

By connecting more people to the internet via the Affordable Connectivity Program, the savings from reductions in the cost of Medicaid alone could result in a net gain to the government.  And that does not incorporate savings from Medicare, the Veterans Administration, and other government-funded healthcare programs.  Further, there are other savings related to other government programs.  For lower-income individuals, adopting in-home broadband increases their likelihood of employment by 14%, with 62% of those newly connected households citing the connection as having helped them or a family member successfully find employment. This trend, applied across all ACP recipients, would reduce the cost of unemployment insurance. 

[Blair Levin is the Policy Advisor to New Street Research and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro​.]