At least 23 million Americans could lose internet access as Biden's $30 a month subsidy program is running out of funds - and families rely on the extra cash for health care bills

Over 23 million low-income households across America are set to be without internet due to federal subsidies coming to an end.

Biden established the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in 2021, which gave low-income families $30 a month to put toward their internet bill and $75 monthly to both indigenous tribes and those living where internet access is more expensive.

Many of these Americans have long relied on the program, which has allowed them to pay for health care bills — including one Illinois mother, who spoke with reporters, whose daughter struggles with cerebral palsy.

The ACP launched with $14.2 billion on New Year's Eve of 2021, less than three years ago, and will run out of funding either this month or sometime in May, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Biden White House.

The Illinois mother enrolled in ACP said she truly depends on the internet subsidy for her health care — adding that she would sell 'anything that I own' to stay connected.

That ACP enrollee, Cindy Westman of Eureka, Illinois, has been living with her own genetic and immune system disorders while also caring for her 12-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy and autism, as she explained to KFF Health News.

'When you have low income and you are living on disability and your daughter's disabled,' Westman told the site, which is run by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, 'every dollar counts.'

Westman said she uses the extra $30 to buy a week's worth of gas for travelling to her daughter's medical appointments 30 minutes away in Peoria, as well as her own physical therapy appointments and other errands.

The internet connection itself has also allowed her to get easy access to medical records online, Westman said, and to switch to telehealth appointments when the timing of that hour-long drive to Peoria won't work.

'It's essential for me to keep the internet going,' she told the site, 'no matter what.' 

Since this January, a bipartisan bill that would reload the program by $7 billion has languished for months without a floor vote.

The legislation, which has 216 co-sponsors in the House, including 21 Republicans, and three in the Senate, was spearheaded by Senator Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, and Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican.

'There are really no good options in a world in which Congress leaves us without any funding,' one senior Biden administration official told CNN. 

'So we want to work as hard as possible to make sure we avoid that possibility.' 

This Tuesday, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to consider the social impact of letting the ACP sunset.

'It is worth noting that they will have special impact on certain vulnerable populations, including senior citizens,' Rosenworcel wrote. 'We know that nearly half of ACP households are led by someone over the age of 50.'

In the rural outskirts of Selma, Alabama, for example, 50-year-old ACP enrollee Leon Hudson had previously struggled to even get a petition signed with high enough numbers to persuade internet service providers to lay broadband in his community.  

Prior to the program, he had no choice but to try a $200-per-month satellite internet service, HughesNet, that turned out to be slow, unreliable, and expensive, he said.

Hudson has come to depend on the ACP which got him an Xfinity mobile internet deal that has allowed him to get his online business off the ground. 

With the program likely ending, as he explained his situation to Capital B news, 'I have no choice but to figure it out.'

Blair Levin, an analyst at the market research firm New Street Research, told CNN that the $7 billion re-up, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, would likely pass quickly if House Majority Leader Mike Johnson would allow Congress to put it to vote.

'So far, he has not said anything about it,' Levin said, 'but it appears he will not allow the House to vote on the legislation.' 

'He has not, to my knowledge, said anything substantive about the legislation or the program.'

The households that benefit from the program are comprised of approximately 59 million low-income US citizens and taxpayers, including veterans and students, as well as older Americans.

In addition to the monthly internet service discount, the ACP offers a one-time subsidy of $100 for eligible low-income households in need of a laptop, desktop computer or tablet. 

In 2021, the program had been instituted to replace the Emergency Broadband Benefit, which had previously given households a $50 discount - $20 more than eligible ACP applicants have received each month.

The Emergency Broadband Benefit was also available to households with income at or below 135 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or those who participate in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Lifeline.