Ask any health care advocate or telehealth entrepreneur and they’ll tell you that President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill – which includes $65 billion to achieve the goal of universal broadband – is a game changer.
State Rep. Kim Schofield
If implemented properly, it could bring best-in-class remote health care straight into the homes of millions of Americans – including Georgians – that don’t have it and badly need it. From seniors to low income to LGBTQ+ patients, it can put more healthcare right into people’s homes via fast internet connections.
But passing the bill is a starting point, not a “mission accomplished” moment. Billions of dollars are now available to get everyone in Georgia connected online, but we’ll fall short of these goals if we repeat past mistakes or lose our focus.
Back in 2009, an earlier federal broadband push set similarly ambitious goals for rural broadband, but poor oversight resulted in waste and squandered opportunity.
In one project in Illinois, shady contractors spent $12 million of taxpayer money stringing fiber to their engineers’ own homes, instead of to the unserved rural communities they had promised to connect. Another county in Minnesota spent $66 million in taxpayer funding on a government-owned fiber network – but had to sell the project for pennies on the dollar to a private ISP after it failed to make enough money to cover the debt payments
This time, two simple rules can help us get it right – and deliver on the infrastructure bill’s transformative promise.
First, we need a common-sense commitment to prioritize broadband buildout dollars where they’re needed. As part of this, we need to trust in competition, rather than patronage, to contract with the most capable network builders. Our spending should focus squarely on unserved rural areas – those without any broadband options – until that job is finally finished. We’ll reach this goal faster and stretch our dollars further by making sure all broadband providers – private companies and non-profits alike – can compete equally for funding on level terms.
Second, we need to remember that building the infrastructure is only half the challenge. Getting all of our neighbors connected to the network is also important. Across metro Atlanta, 97% of homes already have access to fast broadband service, but only 77% are signed up.
We can’t solve this adoption gap by wasting tax dollars to duplicate infrastructure or get local governments into the highly complex business of building and operating their own broadband services.
Even with home internet service now essentially free for low-income families thanks to the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program and broadband providers’ low-income programs, we still need a full-scale effort to sign up the 71% of unconnected adults.
Health care providers can play an important role here; they can help patients understand how a home connection makes it easier, faster and often cheaper to get first rate health care via telehealth services.
Telehealth is also an equality issue: Older folks or folks without transportation benefit from it because they often don’t drive or have a caregiver who can bring them to appointments. LGBTQ+ and non-English speaking patients can benefit from specialized providers available online.
Surveys show the unconnected often are skeptical about the life-changing potential of broadband, so our health care, public policy and civil society leaders need to roll up their sleeves to educate and persuade those who have been left behind in the digital world.
This outreach can help unlock the doors and get our unconnected neighbors fully plugged into the world-class health care. Job opportunities, learning resources and stronger connectivity with family and friends would literally be right at their fingertips if they sign up for a broadband connection.
Health care providers and policy leaders need help carrying this load. Our schools need to update curricula to build digital literacy and better prepare students for the estimated 90% of jobs that will require digital skills by the end of the decade.
Community centers and neighborhood non-profits need funding to launch skills training classes for adult learners and ACP enrollment fairs to help walk eligible families through the sign-up process.
Churches, mosques, synagogues and other faith communities can be trusted messengers for spreading the word about the new ACP benefit to their congregations. Neighbors and peers who’ve benefited personally from telehealth services – or online job training, telework, college classes and other life-changing digital tools – will be our most effective advocates for convincing holdouts to sign up.
The historic broadband investments we’re making across Georgia can help us expand digital opportunities and health care equity – but only if infrastructure investments are matched with these vital investments in community outreach, education and evangelization.
Kim Schofield has represented House District 60 in the Georgia House of Representatives since 2017. She also serves on Health IT Policy Committee advising the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
