Policy & Practice December 2017

A DATA LIFELINE State & Federal Data Sharing To Streamline the Lifeline Eligibility Process for Beneficiaries Nationwide Lifeline shares APHSA members’ goals of achieving better outcomes for benefi- ciaries, while streamlining the administrative costs for states and protecting the integrity of the program. To that end, Lifeline is establishing data connections with state health and human services agencies to streamline the eligibility verification process, both for beneficiaries and state program administrators. T By Michelle Garber he federal Lifeline Program is actively partnering with state human services agencies across the country to improve the process for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to get qualified for the Lifeline benefit for phone and broadband service. Beneficiaries served by state health and human services agencies are also potential Lifeline customers, because customers can be approved as eligible for Lifeline by showing that they participate in SNAP or Medicaid. 1