New Bill Targets "Obamaphone" Program Fraud
A Republican Senator has introduced a new bill aimed at tightening management and preventing fraud in the federal Lifeline telecom subsidy program. This move follows reports revealing that California received approximately $3.8 million to pay for services for nearly 94,000 deceased subscribers between 2020 and 2025.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa proposed the bill titled the “No Lifeline for Dead People Act”. The bill requires all carriers to use the federal National Verifier system to verify the identity of subsidy recipients before enrollment. This aims to end the practice of states using separate verification systems, which have been criticized as lax.
The Lifeline program, commonly known as “Obamaphone”, is designed to support phone and internet service costs for low-income households. However, Ernst argues that the program has funneled nearly $5 million in tax dollars to approximately 117,000 deceased subscribers nationwide due to a lack of close oversight.
Controversy Over Verification Loopholes in California and Other States
A report from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Inspector General released last month showed that California accounted for the largest share of suspicious enrollments. Additionally, states like Texas and Oregon were also named for discovered lax local verification processes. The report indicated that more than 77,000 people on the subsidy list passed away shortly after completing the enrollment process.
Facing these allegations, California Governor Gavin Newsom's office has pushed back strongly. California officials argued that the vast majority of subscribers were fully eligible at the time of registration and that any subsequent payments were merely due to delays in updating death records. They asserted this is an administrative management issue for a program serving millions of citizens, not fraudulent behavior.
“People passing away during their time on Lifeline is an administrative reality for a public program serving millions of people over many years; it is not enrollment fraud,” a spokesperson for Governor Newsom stated.
Meanwhile, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has publicly criticized the California administration on social media regarding the issue. Conversely, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) claimed that targeting the state is politically motivated and affirmed their ongoing efforts to maintain the integrity of the LifeLine program. Currently, Senator Ernst's bill is awaiting Congressional review to decide on the nationwide implementation of the federal verification system.
