Impacts of the FCC’s Lifeline Reform Order Olivia Wein, Staff Attorney

1. Impacts of the FCC’s Lifeline Reform Order Olivia Wein, Staff Attorney National Consumer Law Center NASUCA Mid-Year Meeting June 26, 2012 Charleston, South Carolina

2. FCC’s Revamped Lifeline Program • Where low-income consumer advocates see the program advancing the goals of universal service • Focus on the household instead of the house • Creating a floor for eligibility criteria • Movement toward a more uniform Lifeline program helps “brand” the program • Intentional movement towards a portable Lifeline benefit • Movement towards more flexibility for consumers to apply Lifeline to bundles and family plans (caveat: voluntary for ETCs) PLUS clear rules re preservation of voice service in the case of partial payments • Low-income BB pilots and digital literacy

3. Where We See Barriers and Risk of Loss • The program has gone through a serious overhaul w/ big changes: e.g., new application and documentation requirement and verification process (for all LL recipients), and changes to eligibility • Numerous certifications; datafields; one-per-household worksheet(group housing; doubling-up; temp housing) • New rules re duplicates and processes re dups (in-depth data valuations and the NLAD database) and de-enrollment (4 ways to de-enroll) • Notice and disclosure obligations on ETCs, but could become boilerplate. • Need aggressive and robust outreach and edu, but funding is an issue for CBOs and others who are on the frontline.

4. What is covered by Lifeline? Current/Old Lifeline New Lifeline “Voice telephony service”; expands past “local” service. Set support amount ($9.25) Permits carriers to allow LL benefit on all residential service packages that include voice, including bundles and family shared calling plans. • Lifeline is a discount on basic local phone service. • The federal Lifeline benefit is up to $10.00, but varies by phone carrier (tiers of support). • There are landline and wireless carriers who participate in the program (ETCs).

5. Who is eligible? Current/Old Lifeline New Lifeline All states must use, at a minimum, the federal default eligibility criteria (baseline eligibility). States may adopt additional program or income criteria. NPRM – WIC; establishing eligibility for homeless veterans • Eligibility varies from state to state. • States can set eligibility based solely on income or factors directly related to income. • Federal default eligibility (8 states/2 territories) • HH income at or below 135% FPG, or • Participation in Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance; LIHEAP, TANF, NSL Free Lunch Program

6. New Eligibility and Enrollment Highlights • One Lifeline Benefit Per “Household” • Doubling up/group housing process • Temporary address process • Moving towards automation for enrollment and verification (Medicaid, SNAP, SSI) • Numerous certifications and documentation required for all applicants • All Lifeline customers must verify continued eligibility • New rules apply to the LI Broadband pilots

7. PrePaid Wireless Lifeline • Wireless Lifeline is fairly new, but extremely popular • The wireless lifeline products vary, but prepaid is the current form • Characteristics of common prepaid wireless lifeline: federal Lifeline, no deposit, no monthly fees, subsidized minutes reloaded every month, set number of minutes, free handsets • LL customer must activate service; 60-day inactivation procedure • Portability of Lifeline will allow consumers to shop with their feet and hopefully put pressure on ETCs to provide better products.

8. 54.405(e) 4 de-enrollment situations • General situation: deference to state dispute resolution procedures • Duplicates: ETCs must de-enroll if USAC flags a duplicate account (but need to ensure USAC has a good dispute resolution procedures: correctable denial and uncorrectable denials; concern re changing carriers) • 60-day non-usage of prepaid wireless Lifeline: note the reporting requirement of number de-enrolled for this reason • Failure to recertify (annual verification & 1-per-HH re-cert, and the temporary address recertification*) (*not in effect)

9. Duplicates and Database(s) • Process started in the states to check for duplicate Lifeline support (in-depth data valuations) and will likely continue until duplicates database is operational. • Moving to an automated check for duplicate benefits (National Lifeline Accountability Database) • Need consumer’s consent to transmit info to USAC for the duplicates check • SSNs (last 4 digits): privacy/security/limits access • Temp/doubling up/group housing processes

10. Consumer information/data fields • 54.404(b)(6) NLAD • Full name • Full res’l address • DOB • SSN/tribal ID number (last 4) • Date service initiated/terminated • Amount of support sought • How qualified • 54.410(d)(2) applications • Full name • Full res’l address • Temp/perm address • Check box if multiple HH at address • Billing address if different • DOB • SSN/tribal ID number (last 4) • If program eligible, which program • If income eligible, how many in HH

11. 54.410(d)(3) certifications for new applicants • Applicant meets eligibility criteria • Duty to notify ETC if no longer eligible • If applying for Tribal LL, lives on tribal land • Duty to notify ETC if moves to new address • If provided a temp address, duty to recertify every 90 days • Household only receives one LL benefit • Information is true and correct • Consequences of providing false info

12. Key take-away The outreach and education will be critical to mitigate loss in participation during this transition and moving forward. • Documentation; certifications; timelines • Understanding de-enrollment and the processes for correcting denials • Duplicates/one-per-household/NLAD 2012 – annual re-certification of all existing LL customers; More guidance will be issued re 2013 and moving forward

13. Next Steps • Low Income Broadband Pilots • Issues still under consideration • Eligibility Database (cost/ feasibility) • Digital Literacy Program • WIC • Eligibility for Homeless Veterans • Mandatory Application of Lifeline to Bundles • Lifeline Support Amount • Eligible Telecommunication Carrier Requirements • Tribal Lands Support • Other

14. For More Information Olivia Wein, Staff Attorney National Consumer Law Center 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 510 Washington, DC 20036 202-452-6252 owein@nclc.org