Health and Media

NaLA’s Annual Consumer Survey sheds light on life without the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Results from over 68,000 respondents, collected between November 1 and 20, 2024, highlight the critical need for the Lifeline and ACP programs to connect low-income households. This year, NaLA’s survey also included more than 30,000 personal testimonies from Lifeline and/or former ACP participants. These stories underscore the profound impact of both programs on consumers and the urgent need for continued support. Key findings include:

The mortality rate from COVID-19 was about 50% lower in U.S. counties with higher internet access in the summer and early fall of 2020. A new University of Michigan study found that broadband connection was a key factor in reducing mortality and incidence during the early months of the pandemic. The average county with high internet access had 48%-53% fewer new COVID-19 deaths and 19%-34% fewer new COVID deaths per 100,000 residents than the average county with low internet access.

As they entered office at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2021, Xavier Becerra and his allies had a plan to restore Americans’ faith in the nation’s beleaguered public health agencies. Four years later, the pandemic has receded. But trust in America’s health agencies has not recovered.

The Rural Utilities Service announces the acceptance of applications under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant program for fiscal year (FY) 2025, subject to the availability of funding. This notice is being issued prior to passage of a FY 2025 Appropriations Act in order to allow applicants sufficient time to leverage financing, prepare and submit their applications, and give the Agency time to process applications within FY 2025. Based on FY 2024 appropriated funding, the Agency estimates that approximately $40 million will be available for FY 2025.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the launch of a major update to the Mapping Broadband Health in America platform, expanding its capacity to analyze the intersection of broadband connectivity and a range of critical health outcomes, including new variables to better examine maternal health.

In 2022, President Joe Biden (D-DE) signed the Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act, which directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “incorporate publicly available data on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity into the agency’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The bipartisan bill was introduced in 2021 by Sens.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reintroduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act (S. 5462), legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information. Data gathered by brokers has been used to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, out LGBTQ+ Americans, and stalk and harass individuals.

On Monday, November 11th, to commemorate Veterans Day, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society released Veterans and Digital Equity: Planning for Success, a collaborative research effort with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Offices of Connected Care and Rural Engagement. We reviewed state digital equity plans to better understand what states' strategies are for connecting Veterans. My coauthors, Dr.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau establishes a uniform completion deadline of Dec. 31, 2025, for all participants in the Connected Care Pilot Program, and waives the previous completion deadline of three years from each project's start date.

The Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act directed the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate maternal health data into its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform. The agency took this task seriously and on June 20, 2023, first introduced this information on the platform, including public data about maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, as well as facts about race and ethnicity, maternal age, rurality, areas with maternity care deserts, and areas with shortages of mental health care providers.