More than 200 counties in the U.S. with the worst access to reliable internet also have the least access to healthcare, KFF Health News reported April 9.
Here are five things to know:
1. Nearly 60% of these counties in an internet “dead zone” have no hospital, and over the past two decades, nine counties have lost their hospital to closures. These counties also tend to have less access to primary care and behavioral health providers.
2. Residents living in “dead zone” counties tend to live sicker and die younger than people in the rest of the U.S. These counties tend to have higher rates of systemic poverty and historical underinvestment.
3. Most of these 200+ counties are located in the West, Appalachia or the rural South.
4. The dead zones have persisted despite decades of efforts by federal lawmakers to improve internet access through more than 133 funding programs across 15 agencies.
5. The last two presidents created programs directed at improving access to the internet and high-quality care. In his first term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that promised higher-quality care through telehealth. In 2021, President Joe Biden allotted $42 billion to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program. Before states can begin construction, that program is being reviewed by Trump’s new Department of Commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and could be on the chopping block.