Free Cell Phones for Seniors
A lot of senior citizens like me live off social security income and Medicaid. For me, that is the only source of income that I get. This makes life difficult to come by because the social security income is not much. I have rent and bills to pay and they are not getting cheaper. I try to save as much money as I can and will look for programs or deals that will help me. Recently, I found out about free cell phones for seniors that seemed very interesting.
I was surfing the internet for a cell phone when I happened upon the Safelink Wireless website. On the website, they were offering people up to 250 free monthly airtime minutes and a free cell phone. You may be wondering if there is a catch to all this. The catch is that you have to be considered income eligible by the government. So if you are already participating in programs like food stamps or Medicaid, you will have no problem getting into this program. Otherwise you would need to submit documentation proving your income. When you go to the Safelink website, the first thing they will ask is your zip code. Safelink is not offered everywhere in the U.S. yet so that is why they are asking for your zip code. This helps to determine whether their service is offered in your area. You can then fill out the application on their website. After you have sent in your application, you can check the status of it on the Safelink website. Each year that you plan on staying on the program, you will have to submit annual income verification. There is also another program called Assurance Wireless that offer a similiar program is Safelink Wireless is not available where your at.
Being able to have cell phones for senior citizens is really helpful to me. It allows me to keep in touch with my family and friends. And most importantly, I can keep in touch with my doctor and call emergency if the situation should come. This program is a definitely must have for the elderly.
Please *see Jerry begging*, don’t go too far encouraging more free loading from the government. Especially not if legitimate seniors like myself go and do the honest thing and buy the ultra-cheap SVC phone, and go once every 90 days and pay my $20….it is affordable to anybody, and to further add insult to injusry tracfone already offer a free phone with that normal $20 plan – if you need a mobile you don’t need the government paying for it when you can actually afford it. As it is this nation’s in trouble, if we keep taking, and taking, and taking, we’re never going to breach the surface again, and then China will invariably be calling the shots. Is that what you want?
I have to agree with Rightness, why go around getting free stuff from the goverment, they should put that money to social security and health coverage for us not into free cellphones, especially when nowadays is so affordable to buy a phone, like the one he is mentioning. That SVC is only $14.99 at kmart and I’ve been using it for a few months now, it’s prepaid and plus I only spend about 10 to 12 dollars a month.
I will have to agree as well, why oh why are we encouraging this free loading for cellphones? I agree that it is a necesity nowadays, but still there are so many affordable options out there, this money could be put to better use. That Senior Service from Tracfone is so cheap, most seniors could afford it easily, the phone is only $14.99 and sercive stars as low as $7 a month.
Until you stand in the shoes of those who have nothing you should not judge those who find the courage to ask for help. Most seniors who can’t afford food will not ask for help. If they are asking for a free phone for security and they qualify for it then let them have it without shame. If you can’t help those that have built this country with grit and pride and are living there final days scraping up pennies to eat, then that is a sad day. It is not for the money sucking welfare mooches..it is for the deserving seniors that have worked their butts off to make our country OURS!!! God Bless them! Go to a senior center and volunteer and change someones life.
I’m a senior and have been paying T Mobil $50. a month for unlimited service for years. This way there is always access to my kids in other states and I don’t worry about minuites , I also don’t miss imporant messages from friends,family or doctors. Phones and service are so cheap today that free phones are only for the very needy. I do believe all seniors should have some kind of commuication sorts incase of accidents or emergenceies. This could be a good thing depending on how you look at it or your circomstances.
I disagree with you all. My mom is looking at getting one of these phones so when she is out and away from the home she has some way of contacting someone in case of any emergency. She pays for her home phone. She has very limited income and sometimes she can’t even afford her medication that isn’t covered by the insurance she pays for. Maybe some seniors can ‘easily afford it’ but I know my mom has a hard time affording much of anything.
She is not looking for every hand out there is. She pays for plenty on her own with what little money she has fro social security and her job. Even $14.99 and $7-10 or 12 a month is alot for her. So yes, if she can get a free phone that she can use in case of an emergency, then i’m all for it…as well as for other seniors that can’t afford any other bills. They have a hard enough time paying for medications and food and other things that are not covered by the insurance SHE pays for. let them have the cheap free phones….
Many people abuse the free phone deal, but some of us did not abuse it. I had a decision to make. If I chose the free cell phone I couldn’t continue with the assistance with my local phone bill. That would mean I wouldn’t have help with costs if i would to move to another residence. thanks for mentioning the Senior service from Tracfone. I do wonder what level of income you yourself have. I get $1108 a month. And there are many seniors out there like me. What about those who aren’t one of the “most”?
When we were made to choose between help with our landline assistance and the free cell phone we were told in the mailing we would be allowed to keep the minutes on our phone, and then could pay for more minutes. Well, they put our time balance to 0 (I had hrs.) and there were no customer service folks we could ask about this. Our government chose to use people in India to handle the calls and there was no room to discus anything, just the message that was instilled in them. I only used about 15 minutes a month, to call for a return trip by a van service when going to doctor’s appointments. I have many appointments and find van services very undependable, and have had to wait as long as 4 hours for a return ride. Having the cell phone allowed me to be proactive and keep checking on the ride. Don’t include those of us on very fixed incomes in those taking advantage of the government, or of being freeloaders