How Phone Bill Assistance

The purpose of the program will be to ensure that all Americans have access to telephone service, thus permitting them to look for tasks, call emergency services when needed, and connect to family and friends.

The middle of this program is the Universal Service Fund which is used to pay the phone bill assistance of non qualifying consumers who aren't able to afford basic telephone service.

This is done through Link Up (provides payments for the initial subscription fee and setup of the phone service -- landline or cell phone) and Lifeline ( offers monthly obligations toward the invoice of basic telephone services).

Cell phone bill assistance

Universal Service Fund helps qualifying Americans pay their phone bill assistance in 2 ways with its Link Up and Lifeline programs:

1. Establishing a phone service -- Connect Up program offers around $30 payment for covering the first installation fee for conventional land-line phone service at the principal residence or to get the activation fee for wireless telephone support.

Additional discounts are offered to qualified customers living on Tribal lands where one-time Link-Up phone bill assistance payment can be around $100 on the first installation or activation of either a landline or cell phone for the primary residence only. Subscribers may be eligible for Link Up bill cover again when moving to a new primary residence if they qualify.

2. Subscribing for monthly standard telephone service -- Lifeline program makes payments towards monthly phone bills. The payment can be up to $10 or more per month, based on the state. On the phone bill assistance, it is shown as a discount but the payment is actually made in the Universal Service Fund on behalf of the qualifying subscriber.

All qualified consumers get one Lifeline discount each household for either a radio or landline company, but not both at precisely the exact same moment.

As a result of Lifeline program modernization in 2016, the financial help with phone bill assistance was expanded to include also Internet broadband invoices.

Need help paying my cell phone bill

• Beneficiary Eligibility

1. Medicaid;
2. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps or SNAP);
3. Supplemental Security Income (SSI);
4. Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8);
5. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP);
6. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF);
7. National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program;
8. Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance;
9. Tribally-Administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TTANF);
10. Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR);
11. Head Start (if income eligibility criteria are met).

• How to Apply

Apply for Lifeline (telephone service) and Link-Up (phone installment ) through the local telephone company. Utilize this invaluable instrument and discover your company.

Applicants will be required to give proof of eligibility documentation for themselves or their dependents who live in the same household so as to participate in Link Up and/or Lifeline phone bill payment plans.