Florida Free Lifeline Cell Phones

Florida Free Lifeline Cell Phones

Hard to believe, but 1000 people move to Florida every day of the year. In the past they were drawn there by the sunny weather, warm waters and inexpensive real estate. Many of them are retired people on limited, fixed incomes.

Lifeline to the rescue. While Floridians are working hard to get back on their feet, Lifeline phone service can provide a little assistance by offering them free cell phones and free monthly minutes.

Unfortunately, the economy has devastated real estate values in the Sunshine State, foreclosures have soared, and many of the state’s residents now find themselves in situations they never could have imagined.

 

Free Cell Phone Providers in Florida:

Here’s a list of all the Lifeline Assistance free government cell phones in Florida. They all offer different plans with different numbers of minutes, different refill options, and serve different geographic areas. So click through them all and find the plan that’s best for you.

Lifeline Discount Companies in Florida

If you qualify for Lifeline Assistance, but you find that none of the companies offer free government cell phones where you live, you have another option. The companies below, while not offering free cell phone plans, do offer substantial Lifeline discounts off their regular mobile phone plans in Florida:

Lifeline Cell Phone Eligibility in Florida:

You are eligible if you receive benefits from any of these programs in Florida:

  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps or SNAP)
  • Medicaid
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8)
  • Veterans Pension and Survivor's Benefit.
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance (BIA)
  • Tribally Administered Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF)
  • Tribal Head Start (only those households meeting its income qualifying standard)
  • Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)

You may also qualify if your Total Household Income is at or under 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. See the handy chart below to check your income. Please note that we have seen conflicting numbers for Florida among the providers–some say 135% and some say 150%.

INCOME BASED ELIGIBILITY FOR FLORIDA
Members in Household Annual income
1 member $18,347
2 members $24,719
3 members $31,091
4 members $37,463
5 members $43,835
6 members $50,207
7 members $56,579
8 members $62,951
For each additional member add $6,372 annually

Latest News for Florida:

Emphasizing the obvious: NBC News performs remarkably superficial analysis of free government cell phone program - Here's a news flash, NBC: California, New York and Florida may just have the most Lifeline customers because they are the states with the first, third and fourth largest populations. Duh.
10% of Florida households receive Lifeline Assistance — even after the FCC cracked down on fraud, waste and abuse - The number of Florida households receiving free or discounted government cell phones through the Lifeline Assistance program has dropped significantly -- from a high of 1.04 million households in 2012, to 957,792 in 2013, to 833,162 in 2014. Hard as it may be to believe, that still represents one out of ten households in the state.
T-Mobile now offering Lifeline cell phones in five states - T-Mobile South is now offering the Lifeline Assistance program to Florida’s needy residents. It's not a free cell phone, but it's cheap and gives you a lot of minutes.
FCC and Florida State Cracking Down on Abuse of Lifeline Phone Program - Florida has recently announced that they are working with the FCC to audit records to find families receiving more than one Lifeline phone.
ReachOut Wireless to Enter 8 More States and the District of Columbia - ReachOut Wireless is petitioning the FCC to enter Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

If you have any other questions, please refer to the links in the sidebar.

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