Seniors/Aging Individuals

Our failure to create inclusive policies that close the digital divide has done serious harm to the Americans who were already struggling to put food on their tables prior to the pandemic. The failures of our past, however, do not have to dictate the future. It is time—in fact, it is past,time—for the tech and telecom sector to take account for issues of equity and fairness. 

When it comes to telemedicine in 2020—and thanks to coronavirus, 2020 turns out to be the year for telemedicine—the digital divide isn’t equally distributed. In the early days of the pandemic, the federal government says, 44 percent of Medicare-funded primary care visits were conducted virtually; that figure was 0.1 percent in Feb.

As schools now explore virtual education and hospitals expand to digital platforms as viable and safe options during the time of COVID-19, the focus on adequate internet access has moved to center stage. In 2018, rural North Dakota residents had access to better internet service than residents of Englewood in Chicago. A recent report showed that in some parts of Chicago, as many as half of children lack the necessary access to broadband needed to engage in the online educational activities expected of them during the COVID-19 academic disruption.

Broadband is seen as a vector of economic growth and social development. In the developing world, mobile technologies are widely adopted and mobile broadband is progressively rolled-out with high expectations on its impact on the countries’ development. We highlight what the determinants of mobile broadband use are in four Sub-Saharan countries. Using micro-level data coming from household surveys over 5 years, from 2013 to 2017, we show that SIM card ownership and being part of an online social community has a strong positive impact on mobile broadband use.

The pandemic has highlighted the pressing need for high quality fixed and mobile voice and broadband services that are affordable, reliable, and robust. In the near term, there are immediate measures that the Federal Communications Commission can take to provide relief to Americans at this critical time:

While COVID-19 has highlighted the deficiencies in broadband availability in the homes of our school-age kids around the country, the absence of a broadband connection for our older adults is equally concerning. Lack of internet access sets the stage for growing isolation and harm to our seniors across the country. Although broadband adoption has increased among those 65 and older in recent years, there is still a significant gap. A 2017 Pew Research revealed that over half of those 65+ have a broadband connection at home, and about 67 percent use the internet.

Reps Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Peter King (R-NY) introduced the Advancing Connectivity during the Coronavirus to Ensure Support for Seniors (ACCESS) Act. In March, Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA)  introduced the bill in the Senate (S. 3517). Specifically, the ACCESS Act would:

As life has increasingly moved online during the pandemic, an older generation that grew up in an analog era is facing a digital divide. Often unfamiliar or uncomfortable with apps, gadgets and the internet, many are struggling to keep up with friends and family through digital tools when some of them are craving those connections the most.

The past month has taught us that the internet is the one indispensable tool Americans have amidst this crisis. but at least 20 million American households are currently without home access to broadband internet, primarily because they can’t afford it. These are the families on the wrong side of the digital divide, the most vulnerable people in our society. Disproportionately they are older, poorer, and sicker than the “average” American. Congress should devise a long-term solution to our continuing digital divide, once and for all.

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced new legislation to enhance telehealth support for seniors and increase access to technology for "virtual visits" during the coronavirus pandemic. The Advancing Connectivity during the Coronavirus to Ensure Support for Seniors (ACCESS) Act would help protect one of the most vulnerable populations from risking exposure to the virus when accessing remote health care and connecting with loved ones. Specifically, the ACCESS Act would: