WASHINGTON – According to Politico, “The pandemic has opened the floodgates for telehealth as federal and state governments rapidly roll back long-standing barriers. But not all patients can get online, and in-person treatment options are dwindling amid lockdown orders.” Safety net clinics are asking for help from the government to pay for treatment and connectivity dead zones. Nicol Turner Lee, a research fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation has said that “It's often the most vulnerable patients who can't access virtual care. Communities without the means to get online will not benefit from telehealth."

Lisa Cooper, founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, stated that "People of color and people with low incomes are always the last to get access to any new technology. The disparity always gets worse before it gets better." Additionally, many rural and safety net clinics operate on thin margins, making it impossible to invest in telehealth.

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