Lifeline assistance program costs doubled in five years to $1.75 billion in 2011 while tens of millions of dollars have been lost to fraud. Surveys found an average of 9 percent of Lifeline users in 17 states and territories were ineligible for the program, while recent audits found 400,000 instances of one person — or one household — having more than one subsidized connection. Some phones were sold for cash on Craigslist.
This is not something we should have to pay for with the universal service fee on our telephone bills.