When the clock struck midnight on May 31, more than\u00a023 million<\/strong>\u00a0low-income households were dropped from a federal internet subsidy program that for years had helped them get connected.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Affordable Connectivity Program\u00a0<\/strong>was created in 2021, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, to help people plug into jobs, schools and health care by reducing their internet costs by up\u00a0to $75<\/strong>\u00a0a month.<\/p>\n

Helping connect households was particularly important in rural America, where telehealth services are often leaned on to fill health care gaps and address provider shortages.<\/p>\n

But that aid evaporated last month when\u00a0Congress<\/strong>\u00a0didn\u2019t move to keep it funded.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternet bills for millions of Americans are increasing because Congressional Republicans failed to act,\u201d\u00a0White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson<\/strong>\u00a0emailed me.<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers have argued that too much of the subsidy money went to people who don\u2019t need it. Last month,\u00a0Republicans\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Democrats\u00a0<\/strong>introduced proposals to address those concerns. The ACP debate continues, with a funding measure expected to be part of the\u00a0Spectrum and National Security Act of 2024<\/strong>, under consideration Wednesday by the\u00a0Senate\u2019s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The day before the subsidies expired, White House officials offered a consolation prize, announcing they had worked out a deal with 15 internet providers that agreed to keep offering low-cost plans. The announcement isn\u2019t really new, though, nor as robust as a previous deal.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the\u00a0Biden administration<\/strong>\u00a0announced that 20 companies would offer plans for\u00a0$30 a month<\/strong>\u00a0or less.\u00a0AT&T<\/strong>,\u00a0Verizon<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Comcast<\/strong>\u00a0are among the players continuing to sell low-cost plans the administration says will benefit an estimated\u00a010 million<\/strong>\u00a0households.<\/p>\n

Of course, low-cost plans still come with bills consumers must pay. And without the connectivity program\u2019s monthly assistance,\u00a077 percent\u00a0<\/strong>of households that benefited from it will have to change plans or drop their internet connections,\u00a0Jessica Rosenworcel<\/strong>, chair of the\u00a0Federal Communications Commission<\/strong>, wrote in a letter to lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cA consistent theme is that many ACP recipients are seniors on fixed incomes struggling to pay competing bills and make ends meet,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Those affected are people like\u00a0Myrna Broncho<\/strong>, 69, a\u00a0Shoshone-Bannock\u00a0<\/strong>tribal member who talked with me\u00a0at the\u00a0Fort Hall Reservation<\/strong>\u00a0in southeastern\u00a0Idaho<\/strong><\/a>. She had qualified for a\u00a0$75<\/strong>\u00a0subsidy, enough to eliminate her internet bill after she signed on last year.<\/p>\n

Without the subsidy, she\u2019ll have to \u201cgo back on my tight budget.\u201d Retired and ranching, Broncho said she uses the internet for shopping, paying bills and keeping track of her health care.<\/p>\n

Rosenworcel\u2019s letter arguing for renewed funding for the ACP was sent to a handful of lawmakers, including\u00a0Sens. Maria Cantwell<\/strong>\u00a0(D-Wash.), who chairs the commerce committee, and\u00a0Ted Cruz\u00a0<\/strong>(R-Tex.), who has proposed greatly narrowing eligibility for the program.<\/p>\n

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