In today’s fast paced world, it is almost impossible to live without a cell phone. However, at the same time not everyone can afford to buy a cell phone. Keeping this in mind, the government has created the Lifeline assistance program, which provides free cellular phone service for the people who cannot afford to pay for cell phones.
The free cellular phone service provided by the Lifeline program is now available for the residents of Louisiana, Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Kentucky, Washington, Rhode Island, Nevada, Iowa, Texas, West Virginia as well as the other states of the country. Under this Lifeline program, applicants receive free government cell phone service in the form of free minutes. Along with this cell phone service, they receive the vital facilities like sending and receiving text messages, making local and long distance calls, accessing 911 and voice mail.
To be able to apply for this government assisted cell phone service, the applicant must be eligible for the subsidy. Throughout the country the eligibility criteria is almost the same with a few minor alterations in certain states. Usually, the applicants must be taking part in any of the government assistance programs like Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Medicaid, National School Lunch Program’s Free Lunch Program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Under this government assistance cell phone plan, people who qualify are allowed to receive a government subsidy, which pays every month for your free minutes. The number of free minutes are fixed and may range anywhere between 60 and 250 per month, depending on the state of residence of the applicant. The user can however buy additional minutes if required. The additional minutes too are sold at a heavily discounted price.
