Supplemental Resources: Telephone Lifeline and Link-Up Programs

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Supplemental ResourcesTelephone Lifeline and
Link-Up Programs

• Elizabeth Katz
• Office of Consumer Policy
• New York State Department of Public Service
• elizabeth_katz_at_dps.state.ny.us

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Telephone Lifeline Program Basics

• Offers qualified consumers a discount on their
  monthly charges for their primary home phone
  local telephone bill, including cellular
• New Yorks program in effect since 1985
• All incumbent local companies and some
  competitive companies in New York State offer
  Lifeline

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Lifeline Program Elements

• Offers a waiver of the federal subscriber line
  charge which is a savings of a minimum of 75
  annually
• Offers discounted monthly bills for basic local
  telephone service
• Discount on monthly bill varies by telephone
  provider

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Lifeline Facts

• In 2010 New York State had 815,437 Lifeline
  enrollees
• In 2009 Verizon was the largest Lifeline
  provider in New York State
• In 2009 at least 58 companies in New York State
  were providing Lifeline services

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Lifeline Eligibility Criteria

• Customers are eligible if enrolled or income
  eligible for at least one of these programs
• Family Assistance
• Food Stamps (FS)
• Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)
• Medicaid (MA)
• Safety Net Assistance
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Veterans Disability Pension and Surviving
  Spouse Pension (non-service related)

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Automatic Enrollment

• Automatic enrollment started in 1994
• Verizon participates
• Eligibility confirmed by electronic match of
  OTDA client records to telephone customer records
• Customers notified of eligibility via letter from
  phone company
• Customers given 30 days to declineif not, they
  are automatically enrolled

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OTDA and Lifeline

• OTDA clients are made aware of Lifeline when
  applying for social service benefits
• OTDA clients have option of not sharing
  information with phone companies by checking off
  a box on the OTDA application
• Eligibility information provided to phone
  companies from OTDA is confidential and cant be
  used for any other purpose other than automatic
  enrollment or re-certification

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Re-certification of eligibility for Lifeline

• Under FCC rules, all Lifeline customers need to
  re-certify their eligibility annually
• Customers who dont provide proof of benefits are
  switched to the comparable service at full rate
• Re-certification can also be done through
  automatic enrollment process

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The Link Up Program

• Customers who qualify for Lifeline also qualify
  for Link-Up
• Link-Up provides assistance to low income
  households for the installation of new phone
  service
• Link-Up covers up to 30 of the cost of
  installing local phone service to the home, even
  if it is a cell phone
• Link-Up also lets consumers borrow up to 200 for
  set-up fees, interest free, for up to one year
• Link-Up does not cover the cost of the actual
  phone

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For more information please see

• wwww.lifeline.gov
• www.fcc.gov
• www.lifelinesupport.org
• www.askpsc.com
• www.dps.state.ny.us