S. Walton was among the 23 million households receiving up to a $30 discount per month on broadband services through the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). She had just downsized her wifi and cable package due to rising prices.

“When I found out about the program, I immediately signed up and was automatically accepted,” Walton said. Her granddaughter, who lives with her on the South Side of Chicago, used it for homework and social media. Walton also does her taxes online, stays updated on the local news, and completes some work-related tasks using her connectivity.

The highly successful program, which launched in 2021 with an initial $14.2 billion, ran out of funding in May, leaving Walton and millions of others with higher-priced connectivity bills.

“I could put that money toward another bill, or my prescriptions, or my food,” she said.

While Walton is able to make the adjustments to maintain her connection, many other recipients won’t be able to. With broadband being a key social determinant of health, the end of the program is likely to have widespread impacts, particularly on communities of color and disabled people who were most likely to benefit from the initiative.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched the program in 2021 as a long-term response to the sudden widespread dependance on access to remote services during COVID-19. It helped bridge the digital divide for people like Walton throughout the U.S.

The ACP would go on to serve 1 in 6 households and reach every county in the nation. One in four households in the Affordable Connectivity Program were Black, and 1 in 4 were Latinx. Those living on Tribal lands who face substantially more expensive internet costs received $75 a month as participants. People with disabilities automatically qualified if they used other programs like Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

“It was wildly successful, which is why it ran out of money so quickly,” said Amy Huffman, the policy director at National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). The $14.2 billion Congress approved “was initially projected to last much longer than it did, but because it was so successful and so good at delivering what it promised, which was no-cost or low-cost broadband to those who couldn’t afford it, it just quickly ran out of funding,” she said. The last month that recipients received benefits was in May.

A survey of ACP recipients found that, prior to the program, 68% had inconsistent connectivity or none at all, with the majority saying affordability was the reason. And 77% of recipients said losing ACP benefits would disrupt their service by making them change their plan or drop broadband service altogether.

The cost of broadband is just one of many other connectivity barriers that people from intersecting marginalized backgrounds will continue to face in light of the program’s sunset.

For people with mobility disabilities, connectivity could be critical in improving health care options that can be accessed online. But broadband access is actually lower in areas with higher rates of disability insurance and higher disability rates more broadly.

“Where I live, there’s not a lot of different wifi companies in this area, so I was glad that my cable company was one of the providers that were participating in [the ACP program],” Walton said.

With abortion restrictions on the rise, a lack of connectivity can also spell major hurdles for those seeking reproductive care.

For disabled women, “it’s really critical for access to reproductive health care, information, and options, especially for folks who live in states where they have banned or are likely to ban abortions,” said Marissa Ditkowsky, who serves as the disability economic justice counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF).

The organization recently found that more than 3 million disabled women of reproductive age live in states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion. An estimated 6 in 10 Black disabled women and 6 in 10 American Indian and Alaska Native disabled women live in these states. Now, they may face an additional barrier to reproductive freedom.

Other programs have similar aims but don’t provide the same level of benefits as the ACP. Lifeline, another FCC program, gives eligible households up to $9.25 per month to put toward their broadband services. However, not everyone who qualified for the ACP will qualify for Lifeline. Other responses, like cable companies that are creating low-cost plans in response to the program’s end, will only be available for select areas with coverage.

While Congress has made some attempts to bring funding back to the ACP, none have come to fruition. Still, lawmakers could re-fund the program in the future.

“We are hoping and praying that Congress will allocate more money to the program because it was really a big help for low-income families,” Walton said. “I pay into the system too, because I work. I feel like when I need help, I should take it out of the system, and a lot of people feel that way.”