Friday 20 May 2011

Getting a Free Senior Cell Phone from the US Government

By Lorna Hollaway


For the senior citizen being able to get a free cell phone from the government is a very good service. This is an amazing program that's not only for the senior citizen though; it's also for those on disability, government programs and low income individuals. This isn't something that can be a replacement of your home phone but it's a great tool for the senior citizen if they're out driving or walking and get into trouble. It's something that can potentially save a life. The plan isn't going to give a lot of units per month, however, it's completely free to apply and the service is completely free along with the phone too. It'll be enough to give an outlet for a quick call or in case of an emergency. If you're on a type of assistance like that of Medicare, Medicaid, assisted or free housing, food stamps, sometimes social security and so on you might immediately qualify. Low income might qualify but it will take a little more time to get approved, otherwise the verification process is quite easy.

You can first go and check on the local and state assistance website in order to get information for Lifelink. You simply need to just follow their instructions on applying. This is one of the most used companies in order to give an outlet for phones for the senior citizens and other individuals.

Other than the Lifelink outlet the other program is called SafeLink Wireless which adjudicates the free cell phone programs. SafeLink is state dependent as the number is growing but not all states currently have the SafeLink program. Visit the website and put in your zip code and you can find out whether or not your local qualifies and if so you can begin the qualification process to get your phone directly from the SafeLink site.

After you've applied for your phone you can check back to the website to see where your approval status is at. If you have to go through the income verification process you'll have to go through a little longer wait period but usually not much longer. Once you've qualified they'll mail you your phone. It's usually going to come within a few days to a couple of weeks. You'll have your phone and have it activated and ready for use by the beginning of the next month.

You'll have to qualify again yearly, done in the same manner that you did so initially. Even though we're focusing on an outlet for a senior citizen you can apply if you qualify on any of the programs and more we listed above and you could qualify based upon employment status. SafeLink isn't an exclusionary to seniors. It's a free application process and everything else is free as well so you owe it to yourself and the senior citizen in your life to make sure the application is gone through and a potentially lifesaving cell phone is received.




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