What Is Lifeline? Discount, Eligibility, and How to Apply

The Lifeline program is a federal benefit that lowers the monthly cost of phone or internet service for households with limited income. Most subscribers get $9.25 off their bill each month; households on qualifying Tribal lands can get up to $34.25.¹ The Federal Communications Commission oversees the program, and the Universal Service Administrative Company runs the daily operations, including checking eligibility and processing applications. Only one Lifeline benefit is allowed per household.

How Much the Discount Is Worth

Lifeline pays up to $9.25 a month toward phone service, home or mobile broadband, or a bundle that includes both.² The credit comes off your bill directly, so you pay the reduced amount instead of waiting for a reimbursement. If your plan costs less than $9.25, Lifeline covers the whole thing and you pay nothing.

On qualifying Tribal lands, the monthly discount rises to as much as $34.25, which is the standard $9.25 plus a $25 Tribal supplement. First-time Tribal subscribers can also receive up to $100 as a one-time credit toward activation or installation.² A few states add their own supplement on top of the federal discount, though not every state does and the amounts vary.

Who Qualifies

There are two ways to qualify: by income or by participation in a federal assistance program. The income path requires a total household income at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.¹ For 2026, that is $21,546 for a single person and $44,550 for a family of four in the lower 48 states, with higher thresholds in Alaska and Hawaii.³

You also qualify automatically if you or anyone in your household participates in one of these programs:⁴

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Medicaid
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Federal Public Housing Assistance
Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit programs

Program-based eligibility is usually the faster route because the National Verifier can confirm your participation through federal databases without asking you for income documents.

Residents of qualifying Tribal lands have extra pathways. You also qualify through Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or Head Start if your household meets the income standard.⁵

What Counts as a Household

This is where applicants get tripped up. Under Lifeline rules, a household is a group of people who live at the same address and share income and expenses, whether or not they are related. Shared expenses include food, rent or mortgage, and healthcare costs.⁶ A married couple living together is one household. A parent and a dependent child are one household. Roommates who split rent but otherwise keep their money separate are separate households, and each roommate could apply on their own.

Only one Lifeline benefit is allowed per household.¹ If two qualifying adults share money at the same address, only one can receive the discount. If your household situation changes and you no longer qualify, you have to tell your provider so you can be de-enrolled.

How to Apply

Applications go through the National Verifier, the centralized system that checks your eligibility against federal databases. You can apply online at lifelinesupport.org or mail a paper application to the Lifeline Support Center. Online applications often get an immediate decision when the database check succeeds; mailed applications take longer because a person has to review them.

Every applicant provides the same core information on FCC Form 5629:⁷

Full legal name
Full residential address, and whether it is permanent or temporary
Date of birth
Last four digits of your Social Security number, or your Tribal identification number

These fields let the system confirm your identity and check that no one else in your household is already enrolled.⁸

If the databases cannot confirm what you claim, you will need to upload or mail supporting documents. For income-based applicants, acceptable proof includes the prior year’s tax return, a current employer income statement, three consecutive pay stubs, a Social Security benefits statement, or an unemployment or workers’ compensation benefits statement.⁸ Whatever you send has to show your name and your income and be dated within the past 12 months.³ For program-based applicants, a current or prior-year benefits statement, a notice of participation, or a similar official document works. The name and address on your documents need to match your application exactly. Formatting mismatches are one of the most common reasons an application gets rejected.

Choosing a Provider

Approval is not service. Once the National Verifier says you qualify, you still need to pick a participating phone or internet company and enroll. Not every carrier offers Lifeline, so check which ones serve your area using the official lookup at cnm.universalservice.org, searchable by ZIP code or city and state.⁹

Contact your chosen provider and they will attach your approved application to a plan. The discount then shows up on your bill automatically. Do not wait too long after approval. An unused approval can expire, and you will have to go through the verification process again.

What a Lifeline Plan Has to Include

The FCC sets minimum service standards that any Lifeline-supported plan must meet. For 2026:¹⁰

Mobile voice: at least 1,000 minutes per month
Mobile broadband data: at least 4.5 GB per month
Fixed broadband data: at least 1,280 GB per month

Those are floors. Plenty of providers exceed them, and the specifics vary by company and location, so compare actual plans rather than assuming they are all the same.

Keeping Your Benefit

Getting approved is the start. To stay enrolled, you need to use your service and recertify each year.

The 30-Day Usage Rule

If your Lifeline plan has no monthly fee, you must use the service at least once every 30 days.¹ Qualifying activity includes an outgoing call, a sent text, mobile data use, answering an incoming call from someone other than your provider, or buying additional minutes or data.¹¹ Just receiving a text does not count. Go 30 days without qualifying activity and your provider can drop you from the program.

Annual Recertification

Once a year, the National Verifier confirms that you still qualify. Often it can do this through database checks and you do not have to do anything. When it cannot, you will get a notice asking you to confirm your eligibility or send in documentation.¹²

You have 60 days to respond. Miss that window and your provider must de-enroll you within five business days, and you will start paying full price.¹³ You also have to tell your provider within 30 days if you move or if you stop qualifying.¹² Giving false information or hiding a change in eligibility can lead to fines or a permanent ban from the program.

Switching Providers

You can move your Lifeline benefit to a different company without starting over. Contact the new provider and ask for a benefit transfer. They will need your full name, date of birth, last four digits of your Social Security number or Tribal ID, home address, and phone number.¹⁴

Before the switch goes through, you will have to acknowledge two things: that you will lose Lifeline with your old provider, and that only one Lifeline benefit is allowed per household.¹⁵ If the transfer fails for any reason, you stay enrolled with your original provider.

A Note on the Affordable Connectivity Program

If you remember a $30-per-month internet discount, that was the Affordable Connectivity Program, a separate and larger benefit. The ACP ended on June 1, 2024, after Congress did not fund it further.¹⁶ Lifeline was not affected and continues to operate. Some former ACP subscribers may qualify for Lifeline if they meet the income or program rules above, though the monthly credit is smaller.

1
Federal Communications Commission. Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications
2
Universal Service Administrative Company. Lifeline Home
3
Universal Service Administrative Company. Supporting Documents
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Federal Communications Commission. Lifeline Program for Low-Income Consumers
5
Universal Service Administrative Company. Tribal Lands Benefit
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Universal Service Administrative Company. Lifeline Program Household Worksheet
7
Universal Service Administrative Company. Forms
8
eCFR. 47 CFR 54.410 – Subscriber Eligibility Determination and Certification
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Universal Service Administrative Company. Companies Near Me
10
Federal Communications Commission. Public Notice – Lifeline Minimum Service Standards and Indexed Budget
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Universal Service Administrative Company. Lifeline Compliance
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Universal Service Administrative Company. Lifeline National Verifier – Recertification
13
eCFR. 47 CFR 54.405 – Carrier Obligation to Offer Lifeline
14
Universal Service Administrative Company. Change My Company
15
Universal Service Administrative Company. Benefit Transfers
16
Federal Communications Commission. Affordable Connectivity Program