California LifeLine ProgramOverview and UpdateLow Income Oversight Board

July 10, 2012

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Background The Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS) began with

the 1984 Moore Act (Assembly Bill 1348)

Goal: to promote universal service Carriers required to offer basic residential service at ½ of the lowest rate

in California Decision 96-10-066 quantified rules for the program Carriers responsible for administering the program Customers self-certified income eligibility Carriers submitted claims for reimbursement

In 2004 the FCC (04-87) required third party verification Income eligibility in the program must be verified. Customers can alternatively qualify based on participation in approved

public assistance programs

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Background - continued The Commission established a centralized customer

enrollment process

D. 07-05-030 required a third party vendor to perform the California LifeLine Administrator’s duties.

The California LifeLine Administrator’s primary duties: Reviews application and renewal forms Determines eligibility and notifies applicants Audits 3% of program participants Notifies program participants and carriers of the status of

eligibility and enrollment.

Current contractor: Xerox State and Local Solutions, Inc. (6/1/12)

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Background - continued Commission required pre-qualification for California LifeLine

effective July 1, 2009, D. 08-08-029

Pre-Qualification required applicants to pay regular rates for Basic Service until approved for LifeLine.

Subscribers receive a bill credit or check (if requested) for the difference between the regular rates and California LifeLine discounted rates (retroactive to the date of the initial request for California LifeLine).

Customers are no longer subject to back billing of regular charges if disqualified for California LifeLine.

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Recent Changes: Specific Support Amount D. 10-11-033 (Resolution T-17321) established a new subsidy

mechanism for the California LifeLine, effective December 1, 2011

Set a Specific Support Amount (SSA) of $11.50 per month per LifeLine subscriber. Carriers reimbursed based on monthly weighted average subscriber count. SSA subsidy updated annually based on 55% of highest Carrier of Last Resort

(COLR)* Basic Service rate. Administrative Cost reimbursement capped at $0.50, if supported, otherwise $0.03

per weighted average subscriber. Administrative Cost cap reviewed annually, increases capped at CPI-U rate of

inflation. Bad debt reimbursement ended December 2011.

$6.84 maximum LifeLine Rate until 12/31/12 . $5.00 LifeLine Rate floor until 12/31/12 .

* Uniform Regulatory Framework Carriers

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Recent Changes: FCC 12-11 In February 2012, the FCC made fundamental changes to the

Lifeline program

New Customer eligibility requirements strengthened: Proof of eligibility required for all applicants Last four digits of SS# and Date of Birth required

Yearly self-certification of eligibility under penalty of perjury Federal 4-Tier subsidy replaced with flat rate subsidy: $9.25 Connection (Linkup) subsidy eliminated except for Enhanced Lifeline Toll Limitation Service support reduced Definition of “household” revised to allow multiple “households” at same

address Other administrative changes

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Application Process California LifeLine Application Process:

Customer requests LifeLine service with carrier Applicant pays regular rates until approved (pre-qualification) The LifeLine Administrator checks customer data for duplicate LifeLine discounts

and mails application form (pink envelope) Applicant fills out form (paper or online at www.californialifeline.com) and

submits proof of eligibility Proof of participation in a means-tested program Proof of income eligibility

The Administrator reviews the form and support; determines eligibility; notifies the customer and carrier

If approved, the LifeLine benefits are back-dated to customer’s request date If denied, customer continues to pay regular rates.

Customer may appeal the denial to the CPUC

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California LifeLine Rates

December 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012 LifeLine Rates may not exceed $6.84 nor be less than $5.00 LifeLine Rates will vary by carrier LifeLine Rate is equal to the retail rate less federal subsidy less

SSA, subject to cap and floor

Beginning January 1, 2013 LifeLine Rates may not exceed ½ of the carrier’s basic rate, with

no price floor LifeLine Rates will vary by carrier LifeLine Rate is equal to the retail rate less federal subsidy less

SSA. Subsidy will be calculated assuming no less than $5.00 LifeLine

Rate.

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Wireless – federal Lifeline

The Commission approved wireless carriers to offer federal Lifeline

Cricket, Nexus, Telscape, and Virgin Mobile (pending on launch)

April 2012 - 115,405 wireless federal Lifeline participants

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California LifeLine Subscribership Declined Since

2006

*Note: does not included federal Lifeline participants.

Likely reasons for decline: Implementation of 3rd party enrollment process Subscribers not renewing their eligibility Move from wireline to wireless/VoIP/alternate providers Lack of interest in program Privacy concerns, fear of dealing with government

July 2006 3,134,139

April 2012* 1,547,978

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California LifeLine Budget – 2012/2013: $355 million

Carrier Claims - $330 million LifeLine Administrator - $ 14 million Outreach Contract - $ 6 million Staff Costs - $ 1 million Other Costs - $ 4 million

Total $355 million

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Current Eligibility Requirements – Method 1 Program-Based:

Medicaid/Medi-Cal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Federal Public Housing Assistance or Section 8 CalFresh, Food Stamps or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Healthy Families Category A National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Tribal TANF Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) Head Start Income Eligible (Tribal Only) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

California and Stanislaus County Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) / (StanWORKS), Welfare-to-Work (WTW), and Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) 

Federal Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)

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Current Eligibility Requirements – Method 2 Income-Based:

Household Size LifeLine Annual Income Limits (06/01/12) 1-2 members $24,700

3 members $28,800

4 members $34,800

Each additional member add $6,000

Other Eligibility Information One discount per household; 2nd discount only for TTY Applicant not claimed as a dependent on tax return Discount for primary residence

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Advertising and Outreach (2011)

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Developed new ad campaign, “Hello, Savings!” Statewide media buy Collateral: banners, posters, displays,

brochures (19 languages), and presentations Supermarket street marketing Media interviews Business and media partnerships Testimonial videos (5 languages) Pro-bono newsletters and online links School outreach

Advertising and Outreach (Spring and Summer 2011)

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Current Outreach Efforts’ Objectives Perform at least 160,000 consumer educations

Conduct at least 1,000 presentations Secure attendance to at least 90 community events Enlist a minimum of 1,000 new network organizations to

distribute collateral materials on a voluntary basis Recruit between 50 to 70 community-based and/or faith-

based organizations to conduct the consumer educations

Arrange for articles and/or online links with a minimum of 30 entities

Target areas in which participation rates are below 75%

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Call Center - Public Primary roles: screen for eligibility, conduct optional

survey, collect data, transfer consumers to carrier of choice, and provide general program information

Operates on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Serves multiple languages: Chinese, Cambodian,

Laotian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and English (Language Line translation services are available for other languages.)

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The Reasons Provided by Consumers for Contacting the California LifeLine Call Center, the Results of their Call, and the Source Informing Them of California LifeLineCall Reasons 36% Eligibility Screening

17% Information

17% Application/Renewal

12% Federal Lifeline

8% Non-CA LifeLine Call

Call Results 36% Transferred to Carrier

20% Referred to App/Renewal Phone Line

18% Information Only

Call by Source 34% Friends/Family

17% LIHEAP/LIEE

6% Flyer/Brochure

(September 2011 to Feb 2012)

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Contact Information Benjamin Schein – LifeLine Implementation

BDA@cpuc.ca.gov; (415) 703-1088 Michaela Pangilinan – LifeLine Outreach

WOW@cpuc.ca.gov; (415) 703-1890 RHA, Inc. (Outreach Contractor) – Vanessa Anderson

vanderson@rhainc.com; (559) 447-7000 Consumer Affairs Branch

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc/cec/e_complaint/; (800) 649-7570 Xerox State and Local Solutions, Inc. (LifeLine Public Call Center)

https://www.californialifeline.com/en (866) 272-0349 – English (866) 272-0354 – Korean (866) 272-0350 – Spanish (866) 272-0355 – Vietnamese (866) 272-0351 – Lao/Hmong (866) 272-0356 – Chinese (866) 272-0352 – Khmer (866) 296-0860 – Japanese (866) 272-0353 – Tagalog