The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is pleased to share an important new report, Minorities, Mobile Broadband, and the Management of Chronic Diseases, prepared by the Joint Center Media and Technology Institute and the Health Policy Institute with support from the UnitedHealth Group Foundation. This report considers the vast potential of mobile broadband technologies to help address some of the nation’s most pressing health concerns, and therefore is relevant and timely for policymakers’ consideration as the federal government implements the Affordable Care Act.

Continual increases in state and local taxes of mobile service, digital goods, and digital services harm the ability of low-income communities to realize the full benefits of mobile broadband and create deeply troubling consequences for minorities and the poor. Understandably, the enormous growth of the mobile broadband and applications markets makes the consumer costs of wireless service, digital goods, and digital services tempting potential tax bases for struggling state and local governments. However, more tax increases on mobile service and the purchase of digital goods and services would perpetuate a regressive tax regime. Left unchecked, this tax structure will continue to harm low-income consumers who stand to gain the most from the potential of wireless broadband to lower their cost of living while improving their prospects in healthcare, employment, and other areas.

Continual increases in state and local taxes of mobile service, digital goods, and digital services harm the ability of low-income communities to realize the full benefits of mobile broadband and create deeply troubling consequences for minorities and the poor. Understandably, the enormous growth of the mobile broadband and applications markets makes the consumer costs of wireless service, digital goods, and digital services tempting potential tax bases for struggling state and local governments. However, more tax increases on mobile service and the purchase of digital goods and services would perpetuate a regressive tax regime. Left unchecked, this tax structure will continue to harm low-income consumers who stand to gain the most from the potential of wireless broadband to lower their cost of living while improving their prospects in healthcare, employment, and other areas. Preserving this regressive tax approach would also have significant racial side effects as it would disproportionately increase taxes on minorities across the board, irrespective of household income.

An Executive Summary is also available.

Between December 2009 and January 2010, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies conducted a study of 2,741 respondents, oversampling African Americans and Hispanics, to understand national minority broadband adoption trends, and examine broadband adoption and use between and within minority groups. This report addresses the experiences of minority consumers of wireline and mobile broadband services and provides insights into some of the factors affecting the decisions of minorities who have adopted broadband.