FCC Staff Deny 5 State Requests for Lifeline NV Delay, Blame States

Petitioners ask the FCC “to solve a problem they have themselves largely created,” said the bureau order. The FCC’s April 2016 Lifeline order “set an expectation” that the NV would launch in all states and territories by Dec. 31, the bureau said. States had “ample opportunity to work with" Universal Service Administrative Co. "and the FCC over the last three and a half years to establish an automated connection to state eligibility data,” it said. “USAC had numerous discussions with the Petitioners’ staff about automated connections to state databases and about the timing of the National Verifier implementation in these states. Petitioners have failed to show why circumstances in their states justify an extension of the implementation timeline.”

"It’s further proof the FCC is committed to killing the Lifeline program," Nebraska Commissioner Crystal Rhoades (D) told us Tuesday. "They failed to allow adequate time or planning to properly launch the databases so the only possible reason they can have is to create ... barriers for otherwise qualified individuals. I hope the FCC and the Trump administration get all the credit they deserve for this disaster in the 2020 election."

The FCC stuck by the order and wouldn't make staff available to answer questions. “The automated connection between Lifeline and the national Medicaid database that went live in September has already alleviated many of the concerns in these waiver petitions," emailed a representative, recapping information in the order. New York's 67 percent of Lifeline applicants cleared with automated checks "might be yet higher had New York not wasted two years by failing to complete the final, ministerial steps in connecting state databases to Lifeline," the rep added. "The other states likewise failed to follow through successfully on initial steps to link state databases. Given that recalcitrance, along with the many other options for potential Lifeline subscribers to verify eligibility in addition to using the automated connections with national databases, there is no reason for the Bureau to grant these waiver requests. The FCC is committed to sticking to the launch schedule ... to protect this important program from further waste, fraud, and abuse.” USAC posted news of the FCC decision and declined comment.

The FCC slammed New York especially. Federal commission staff and USAC "worked diligently with New York staff through 2016 and 2017 to the point where the parties finalized the statutorily required Computer Matching Agreement (CMA) and the FCC signed the agreement on August 27, 2017," the bureau wrote. "When USAC presented the signed CMA to New York for signature, New York declined to sign it, forcing USAC to halt final development work and testing with New York. Despite repeated efforts by USAC and FCC staff to obtain New York’s signature on the CMA over the following two years, New York refused to engage with USAC in moving forward with an automated eligibility database connection -- until September 2019, mere weeks before New York was set for hard launch.”

The NV can “promptly review and process Lifeline applications in states where the National Verifier has launched even without automated connections to state eligibility databases because of the connections to the federal eligibility data, as well as the eligibility document review process,” staff said. “Any concerns that eligible consumers will not be reverified or have their eligibility confirmed absent a connection to a state database have been significantly mitigated by the [Medicaid] and [Federal Public Housing Assistance] connections.”

Applicants who can’t be verified automatically aren’t “precluded from enrolling … and can submit eligibility documentation” for NV review, the bureau said. The manual process “provides a reasonable approach for Lifeline applicants or subscribers seeking to demonstrate their eligibility in these situations,” it said.

Concerns that the NV rollout shouldn’t proceed because it lacks access to state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) databases “are based on a misunderstanding of the reverification process,” the bureau said. “The National Verifier uses several different methods to confirm a subscriber’s eligibility during reverification, which is the one-time process used to confirm that all existing Lifeline subscribers are eligible for the Lifeline benefit.” The FCC and USAC “remain willing to work with any states that seek to establish such connections,” it said.

Other States

Virginia, West Virginia and Iowa didn't seek waiver, state officials confirmed to us.

“Iowa is ready for the launch,” an Iowa Utilities Board spokesperson emailed. The Virginia Department of Social Services “completed all of the required documentation and testing with USAC/Lifeline,” and “is ready to deploy upon completion of all final reviews,” emailed a spokesperson. Officials in the other two states that didn’t seek waivers, Arizona and Nevada, didn’t comment.

Two Kansas agencies pointed at each other when asked if the state sought a waiver. The Kansas Corporation Commission Telecom Division “oversees the Lifeline program in Kansas, [but] another state agency -- the Kansas Department of Children and Families -- is working on the verifier,” a KCC spokesperson said. The department’s spokesperson said, “Lifeline is not a DCF program so it has no say as whether the state would request a waiver.”

"Kansas DCF has been working with USAC to establish an automated data exchange to verify eligibility of SNAP households for Lifeline and this should be completed after the first of the year,” the DCF spokesperson said. “This should not have an impact to Kansans, since at this time, all households are required to self-verify their eligibility through their phone company to receive the benefits."