‘Should have been done yesterday’: Rural, older Americans could get hurt as affordable internet program runs out of cash

The collapse of the Affordable Connectivity Program will affect nearly 60 million individual Americans, going by Census Bureau population estimates.

For Cindy Westman, the internet is a literal lifeline. She depends on internet access to care for her 12-year-old daughter — who has cerebral palsy and autism — by messaging doctors, accessing test results and scheduling critical medical appointments virtually. But it’s not easy to stay connected in Westman’s small, rural town of Eureka, Illinois. With a population of 51,000, many of Eureka’s residents struggle to afford food and oil changes, let alone home internet. “When we’re on the go and she’s hungry, I feed her and then I’ll come home and eat,” said Westman, who is 43. “She doesn’t know any better, because with her developmental disability, all she knows is, ‘[I’m] hungry, and Mom feeds me.’” Since 2021, struggling Americans like Westman — who gave up a career in information security to care for her child — have made ends meet with the help of a popular federal benefit known as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which covers home internet service. For Westman, who gets by on Social Security disability payments, the up to $30 of monthly credits from the government make all the difference, covering her entire internet bill. But in just a few weeks, her internet bills, and those of other Americans like her, could skyrocket by hundreds of dollars a year. That’s because the ACP is running out of funds — and Congress shows no signs it will approve more. Policy experts have described the situation as a fast-approaching economic crisis and a major step backward for closing the digital divide between internet haves and have-nots.