AHA urges Congress to extend Affordable Connectivity Program to support digital health care services 

In a letter submitted May 7 to a bipartisan group of senators, AHA urged Congress to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides benefits toward high-speed internet, allowing patients access to services such as telehealth, hospital at home, patient portals and electronic patient records, virtual scheduling and remote patient monitoring. 

The program, run by the Federal Communications Commission, provides eligible households with benefits of $30 discounts per month toward internet service and up to $75 per month for households in qualifying tribal lands. Without legislative action, those benefits would decrease to $14 this month before completely expiring in June.