Minnesota regulators worry about changes to Lifeline

Minnesota state regulators worry changes to Lifeline could disrupt discounts on phone and broadband service for some low-income Minnesotans. In an effort to crack down on fraud and abuse, the Federal Communications Commission has for several years been working to streamline Lifeline's application process. As the changes to Lifeline take effect in Minnesota, they have stoked fears that some of the program's subscribers will lose their discounts in the transition. To qualify for the program, one must either show proof that they meet or fall below the federal poverty line, or show that they are already enrolled in one of five federal benefit programs: SNAP, Federal Public Housing Assistance, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income or Veterans Pension and Survivors Pension. Under the old system, companies that offer Lifeline services in Minnesota could re-enroll their own customers for the program. Recipients of the five programs are automatically considered eligible. The new system requires Lifeline subscribers to enroll or register again for the program directly through the Universal Services Administrative Cooperative, or USAC, the nonprofit designated by the FCC to administer it. But because the "the USAC is not a household name," as a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission analysis put it, it tends to receive fewer responses from subscribers than companies do when contacting them on their own. The concern now is that the organization's lack of brand recognition will persist even as it takes on new households to deal with. Officials worry that, going forward, some Lifeline subscribers might simply dismiss mailings from the USAC or mistake its requests for personal information as a scam.