Low Income Oversight Board
July 10, 2012

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The Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) began with the
1984 Moore Act (Assembly Bill 1348)
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Goal: to promote universal service
Carriers required to offer basic residential service at ½ of the lowest rate in California
Decision 96-10-066 quantified rules for the program
Carriers responsible for administering the program
Customers self-certified income eligibility
Carriers submitted claims for reimbursement
 In 2004 the FCC (04-87) required third party verification
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Income eligibility in the program must be verified.
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Customers can alternatively qualify based on participation in approved public assistance programs
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The Commission established a centralized customer enrollment process
 D. 07-05-030 required a third party vendor to perform the California
LifeLine Administrator’s duties.
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The California LifeLine Administrator’s primary duties:
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Reviews application and renewal forms
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Determines eligibility and notifies applicants
Audits 3% of program participants
Notifies program participants and carriers of the status of eligibility and enrollment.
 Current contractor: Xerox State and Local Solutions, Inc. (6/1/12)
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Commission required pre-qualification for California LifeLine effective July 1, 2009, D. 08-08-029
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Pre-Qualification required applicants to pay regular rates for Basic
Service until approved for LifeLine.
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Subscribers receive a bill credit or check (if requested) for the difference between the regular rates and California LifeLine discounted rates (retroactive to the date of the initial request for
California LifeLine).
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Customers are no longer subject to back billing of regular charges if disqualified for California LifeLine.
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D. 10-11-033 (Resolution T-17321) established a new subsidy mechanism for the California LifeLine, effective December 1, 2011
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Set a Specific Support Amount (SSA) of $11.50 per month per LifeLine subscriber.
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Carriers reimbursed based on monthly weighted average subscriber count.
SSA subsidy updated annually based on 55% of highest Carrier of Last Resort
(COLR)* Basic Service rate.
Administrative Cost reimbursement capped at $0.50, if supported, otherwise
$0.03 per weighted average subscriber.
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Administrative Cost cap reviewed annually, increases capped at CPI-U rate of inflation.
Bad debt reimbursement ended December 2011.
$6.84 maximum LifeLine Rate until 12/31/12 .
$5.00 LifeLine Rate floor until 12/31/12 .
* Uniform Regulatory Framework Carriers
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In February 2012, the FCC made fundamental changes to the
Lifeline program
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New Customer eligibility requirements strengthened:
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Proof of eligibility required for all applicants
Last four digits of SS# and Date of Birth required
Yearly self-certification of eligibility under penalty of perjury
Federal 4-Tier subsidy replaced with flat rate subsidy: $9.25
Connection (Linkup) subsidy eliminated except for Enhanced Lifeline
Toll Limitation Service support reduced
Definition of “household” revised to allow multiple “households” at same address
Other administrative changes
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California LifeLine Application Process:
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Customer requests LifeLine service with carrier
Applicant pays regular rates until approved (pre-qualification)
The LifeLine Administrator checks customer data for duplicate LifeLine discounts and mails application form (pink envelope)
Applicant fills out form (paper or online at www.californialifeline.com
) and submits proof of eligibility
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Proof of participation in a means-tested program
Proof of income eligibility
The Administrator reviews the form and support; determines eligibility; notifies the customer and carrier
If approved, the LifeLine benefits are backdated to customer’s request date
If denied, customer continues to pay regular rates.
 Customer may appeal the denial to the CPUC
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 December 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012
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LifeLine Rates may not exceed $6.84 nor be less than $5.00
LifeLine Rates will vary by carrier
LifeLine Rate is equal to the retail rate less federal subsidy less
SSA, subject to cap and floor
 Beginning January 1, 2013
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LifeLine Rates may not exceed ½ of the carrier’s basic rate, with no price floor
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LifeLine Rates will vary by carrier
LifeLine Rate is equal to the retail rate less federal subsidy less
SSA.
Subsidy will be calculated assuming no less than $5.00 LifeLine
Rate.
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 The Commission approved wireless carriers to offer federal Lifeline
 Cricket, Nexus, Telscape, and Virgin Mobile (pending on launch)
 April 2012 - 115,405 wireless federal Lifeline participants
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July 2006 3,134,139
April 2012* 1,547,978
*Note: does not included federal Lifeline participants.
 Likely reasons for decline:
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Implementation of 3 rd party enrollment process
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Subscribers not renewing their eligibility
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Move from wireline to wireless/VoIP/alternate providers
Lack of interest in program
Privacy concerns, fear of dealing with government
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Program-Based:
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Medicaid/Medi-Cal
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Federal Public Housing Assistance or Section 8
CalFresh, Food Stamps or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Healthy Families Category A
National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
Tribal TANF
Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC)
Head Start Income Eligible (Tribal Only)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
 California and Stanislaus County Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
(CalWORKS) / (StanWORKS), Welfare-to-Work (WTW), and Greater
Avenues for Independence (GAIN)
Federal Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
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 Income-Based:
Household Size LifeLine Annual Income Limits (06/01/12)
1-2 members $24,700
3 members $28,800
4 members $34,800
Each additional member add $6,000
 Other Eligibility Information
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One discount per household; 2 nd discount only for TTY
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Applicant not claimed as a dependent on tax return
Discount for primary residence
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Advertising Outreach
Creative
Development
Mediums
TV
Educations Presentations Events
Radio
Outdoor
Print
Online

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(Spring and Summer 2011)
Developed new ad campaign, “Hello, Savings!”
Statewide media buy
Collateral: banners, posters, displays, brochures (19 languages), and presentations
Supermarket street marketing
Media interviews
Business and media partnerships
Testimonial videos (5 languages)
Pro-bono newsletters and online links
School outreach

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Perform at least 160,000 consumer educations
Conduct at least 1,000 presentations
Secure attendance to at least 90 community events
Enlist a minimum of 1,000 new network organizations to distribute collateral materials on a voluntary basis
Recruit between 50 to 70 community-based and/or faithbased organizations to conduct the consumer educations
Arrange for articles and/or online links with a minimum of
30 entities
Target areas in which participation rates are below 75%

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Primary roles: screen for eligibility, conduct optional survey, collect data, transfer consumers to carrier of choice, and provide general program information
Operates on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Serves multiple languages: Chinese, Cambodian,
Laotian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean,
Japanese, Spanish, and English (Language Line translation services are available for other languages.)

The Reasons Provided by Consumers for Contacting the California LifeLine Call Center, the Results of their Call, and the Source Informing Them of
California LifeLine
(September 2011 to Feb 2012)
Call Reasons
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36% Eligibility Screening
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17% Information
17% Application/Renewal
12% Federal Lifeline
8% Non-CA LifeLine Call
Call Results
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36% Transferred to Carrier
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20% Referred to App/Renewal
Phone Line
18% Information Only
Call by Source
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34% Friends/Family
17% LIHEAP/LIEE
6% Flyer/Brochure

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Benjamin Schein – LifeLine Implementation
 BDA@cpuc.ca.gov
; (415) 703-1088
Michaela Pangilinan – LifeLine Outreach
 WOW@cpuc.ca.gov
; (415) 703-1890
RHA, Inc. (Outreach Contractor) – Vanessa Anderson
 vanderson@rhainc.com
; (559) 447-7000
Consumer Affairs Branch
 http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc/cec/e_complaint/ ; (800) 649-7570
Xerox State and Local Solutions, Inc. (LifeLine Public Call Center)
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 https://www.californialifeline.com/en
(866) 272-0349 – English
(866) 272-0350 – Spanish
(866) 272-0351 – Lao/Hmong
(866) 272-0352 – Khmer
(866) 272-0353 – Tagalog
(866) 272-0354
(866) 272-0355
(866) 272-0356
(866) 296-0860
– Korean
– Vietnamese
– Chinese
– Japanese