Veterans living in rural America are being left behind by Federal healthcare systems due to shortages of robust broadband services and limited telehealth access, lawmakers and witnesses warned on July 25 during a field hearing of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, which was held in Urbana, Ill., members of Congress heard firsthand how the Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 (VA) telehealth programs remain out of reach for many veterans in rural areas who lack reliable internet access.<\/p>\n
They also heard how broadband funding cuts by the Trump administration have hampered state efforts to provide internet services to rural areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeography should never be a barrier to care,\u201d said Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee. \u201cIf a veteran qualifies for VA healthcare, it\u2019s our job to make sure they can get it without delays, without confusion, without frustration, and without giving up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, telehealth is only a solution for veterans who have access to sufficient internet and the technical knowledge to use it. It\u2019s sad that in 2025 there are still parts of Illinois and the country that don\u2019t have access to broadband internet,\u201d added Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., the ranking member of the subcommittee.<\/p>\n
According to testimony from Hillary Rains, the community engagement manager at the Illinois Office of Broadband, only about 67 percent of Illinois veterans have and use broadband services.<\/p>\n
Notably, the Federal Communications Commission estimates that 28 percent \u2013 almost a third of rural residents \u2013 lack broadband access.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpanding access is the key to the health and well-being of rural veterans,\u201d Rains said.<\/p>\n
Rains noted that programs like Connect Illinois, an equity-focused broadband infrastructure program, allow internet service providers to build high-speed fiber infrastructure in rural areas.<\/p>\n
Another program, the Digital Equity Act, was set to \u201cprovide $2.75 billion to states to support programming and subgrants to direct service organizations with veterans being targeted as one of the vulnerable populations most affected by the digital divide,\u201d Rains said.<\/p>\n
Some of the proposed programs would have supported veterans with the resources and tools needed to access high-speed internet, as well as through digital literacy classes, mobile skill-building hubs, and secure community telehealth rooms.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Rains said the Trump administration terminated the Digital Equity Act and its appropriated funding by executive order, \u201cleaving these programs unfunded.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, a witness from the VA said that the department is also committed to investing in internet and telemedicine access for veterans.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the programs that we have related to this broadband discussion we\u2019ve been having is what we call the Digital Divide Program, and that\u2019s where we literally issue VA-loaned iPads and tablets that have internet connectivity for veterans that are in rural areas who can\u2019t afford it,\u201d said Daniel Zomchek, the director of the VA\u2019s Veteran Integrated Service Network 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives them the ability to connect with their clinician at their kitchen table, and we\u2019ve distributed thousands of those across the network,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWe will never stop in terms of that outreach and finding connectivity for our vets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veterans living in rural America are being left behind by Federal healthcare systems due to shortages of robust…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[174,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-43483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}