The Federal Lifeline program was established in 1985 to ensure that low-income Americans had access to landline telephone service. Over the years, Lifeline became an integral part of the Universal Service program and eventually expanded to include discounts for broadband service.
The Lifeline program currently provides reimbursement of up to $9.25 per month to providers for discounted qualifying broadband service provided to Lifeline subscribers, including bundled voice and broadband services, and reimbursement of up to $5.25 per month for qualifying voice-only service. Lifeline subscribers residing on qualifying Tribal lands receive an additional $25 monthly benefit in addition to their basic benefit. As of the June 2025 data month, approximately 8.12 million subscribers were enrolled in the Lifeline program. The Lifeline program is administered, at the direction and under the oversight of the Commission, by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). (Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Docket 11-42, para. 3).
Since the current Republican-led FCC was formed last year, it has been increasingly critical of the Lifeline program claiming it is rife with waste and fraud. This assessment has been backed by facts. For example, just last month a report by the Office of the Inspector General found that Lifeline providers sought and received reimbursement funds for 116,000 dead people. Thus, it is no surprise that on February 18, 2026, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) in Docket 11-42 to propose reforms to enhance Lifeline integrity and combat waste, fraud, and abuse. According to the Commission
First, we seek comment on changes to ensure that Lifeline support is used to benefit qualifying low-income Americans consistent with section 254 of the Act, through enhanced requirements to ensure that program participants are legal beneficiaries of Lifeline discounts, improved verification of household eligibility, an improved enrollment and transfer experience for households, predictable minimum service standards, ending the voice support phase-down, and preventing duplicative support. Second, we seek comment on rule changes that would optimize Lifeline program processes for integrity and efficiency, including reforms applicable to the states that have been permitted to opt out of using the NLAD and reduced reporting burdens for ETCs. [Eligible Telecommunication Carriers] Third, we seek comment on changes that would promote more principled service provider conduct, thereby increasing program integrity protections and ensuring that ETCs that participate in the Lifeline program comply with all rules. Finally, we seek comment on changes to the Lifeline rules to streamline them and minimize stakeholder confusion. (Id., at 10).
In the Notice, the FCC makes the following proposals:
Propose that Lifeline is a federal public benefit restricted to U.S. citizens and qualified aliens under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Seek comments on enhanced requirements to ensure that program participants are legal beneficiaries of Lifeline discounts, predictable minimum service standards, ending the voice support phase-down, and preventing duplicative support
Propose and seek comments on collecting the full nine-digit Social Security Number from applicants and using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program to support household eligibility verifications.
Propose and seek comments on requiring secondary verification of a consumer’s consent to enroll in Lifeline or transfer to a new eligible telecommunications carrier.
Seek comments on workable minimum data capacity and speeds for Lifeline supported broadband services and maintaining support for voice-only services.
Propose and seek comments on codifying the existing requirement that an ETC must search its own internal records to ensure that it does not already provide Lifeline-supported service to someone within the applicant’s household
Seek comments on rule changes to improve program integrity and efficiency, including whether to continue to permit “opt-out” states to use their own verification processes and whether the Commission should reduce annual reporting burdens for ETCs.
Seek comments on changes to promote more principled ETC conduct, including changes to the requirements for non-facilities-based ETCs to participate in the Lifeline program and whether additional enforcement mechanisms are necessary to ensure that only ETCs directly providing Lifeline service receive Lifeline reimbursement.
Propose and seek comments on requiring usage tracking and non-usage de-enrollment for all Lifeline service plans regardless of whether a monthly fee is assessed and collected.
Propose and seek comments on streamlining the Lifeline rules, including deleting Emergency Broadband Benefit Program and Affordable Connectivity Program rules, and minimizing stakeholder confusion.
Industry comments on the Notice are due 30 days after it appears in the Federal Register. Reply comments are due 30 days later.