Thursday, October 28, 2010

Free Cell Phones for Medicaid Recipients

My parents are currently on the Medicaid program. Since the Medicaid program is given to people living in poverty, I knew there were other federal programs that they could apply to as well. One of these programs is the free cell phones for Medicaid recipients. The free cell phone is for low income individuals and families just like the Medicaid program is too. In order to apply for the Medicaid phone, your income would have to be at or below the federal poverty level. I knew immediately that this program was for my parents. They already have a lot of expenses so getting a free phone would be a plus. In this way, I can keep in contact with them no matter where they go.

My parents seemed pretty happy to know about the free phone for Medicaid recipients so I told them to go Safelink Wireless to apply. First they had to figure out if the program operates in their state. After they got that figured out, they did the application online. They had to fill out some private information and also had to provide supporting documents showing their income. They also showed documentation showing that they are in the Medicaid program. A couple of weeks after they sent off their application, they got their free phone. I told them that they should be careful when they use their phone because I did not want them to use up all their limited minutes before the month is up. When you join the Medicaid cell phone program you only get a limited amount of minutes every month. Once you use up your minutes for the month then you cannot place anymore calls unless you are calling 911. Basically, my parents would have to keep their phone conversations short and to the point.

I really like the free Medicaid phones program because it really allows poor people to stay connected with the world. It has worked out for my parents and me because I can contact them whenever the need arises. Hopefully, this program will continue indefinitely.

Free Government Phone Service

I have some friends that are pretty poor. They always complain about not having enough money and many times their electricity or water gets shut off because they do not pay the bills. I told them about some government programs that they can apply to which would definitely help them in their finances. One of these programs is the free government phone service. If you were part of this program, the government will provide to you a cell phone at no cost. The phones are provided through several wireless carriers like Safelink Wireless.

These free phones are distributed based on people’s household income. You have to be living at or below the poverty line in order to get a phone. Each state has their own definition of the poverty line so you should check to see what it is for your state. Once you have checked it out and you feel that you meet this criteria, you can then apply for the phone. You will need to send a copy of your past year’s W2 or pay stub which would be used to verify your income.

I told my friends to be cautious when using the free phone with free minutes because it is very easy to run out of minutes. You do not get a lot of free minutes. You would probably only get 60 minutes per month. That is barely enough to make any significantly long calls. Most of your calls would last only a few minutes and you would only make important calls. Even though there is a restriction to the amount of minutes that you get, it is still important to have this free phone. You can use it whenever you find yourself in a situation where a phone would be handy. One example would be if your car broke down in the middle of nowhere and you had to call a tow truck to come get you. I think that is the reason for the free government phone service.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Free Government Cell Phones

My parents recently retired and their income dropped considerably. In fact, they are living only on social security payments which barely come out to a thousand dollars a month. Because of their low income, they have had to make an adjustment to their living standards. They cut a lot of bills like cable and phone. I told them that they still needed a phone because the phone is what they would use to contact the outside world. I needed to call them every now and them to make sure they are ok and if they do not have a phone it would be quite tough to do that. That is why I told them about the free government cell phones program

In this free cell phone program, you can get government phones with free minutes. The minutes are limited though. I think this is the perfect program for my parents because they would only use the phone to call me anyways. Plus, they are candidates for the program due to their low income. In order to get into the program, your income has to be at or below the poverty level set by your state. Every state has a different poverty level. This is become income levels varies throughout each state. The income of the west coast and northeast are usually higher than in the southern states. You can find out if your state participates by going to the Safelink Wireless website.

From the Safelink Wireless website, you can also apply for the free government cell phones. Each household is only allowed one phone though. What I like about this program is that my parents can keep the phone even if they decide not to continue participating. That way, when they do decide to participate again, they can just use the same phone. I told my parents that once they get the phone to be sure they do not make unnecessary calls. That is because I do not want them to waste their minutes. They have very limited minutes per month and it should only be used for real emergencies.