Oregon Purging Dead from Lifeline Rolls
Oregon’s latest review highlights the challenges states face in balancing program oversight.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2026 – Oregon regulators are tightening safeguards to ensure deceased residents do not receive federal phone and broadband subsidies, while defending the state’s system for verifying Lifeline subscribers.
In a Sept. 8 filing with the Federal Communications Commission, the Oregon Public Utility Commission said it recently completed a database match of all Oregon Lifeline subscribers using their nine-digit Social Security numbers and records from the Oregon Center for Health Statistics.
The review confirmed that four subscribers identified in an FCC Office of Inspector General advisory were alive. It also resulted in 123 de-enrollments, most of which Oregon said otherwise would have appeared in the state’s second-quarter 2026 deceased report.
Oregon said its verification process already meets the evidentiary standards used by the Universal Service Administrative Company. Rather than requiring subscribers to provide documents proving they are alive, Oregon staff relies on primary-source state records, including information from the Oregon Health Authority, Department of Human Services and Department of Motor Vehicles.
Those systems allow the state to verify qualifying benefits, identity and recent life activity, according to the filing. Oregon said the records provide the same underlying information that USAC relies on when determining whether a subscriber can establish proof of life.
The state is also moving to receive weekly death notifications and obtain real-time access to mortality information through the Oregon Center for Health Statistics. Oregon said the changes will improve the timeliness of its efforts to identify deceased subscribers.
USAC has placed payment holds on the four subscribers identified by federal auditors, and Oregon is awaiting confirmation from the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau that its verification methodology satisfies proof-of-life requirements. The state has asked that the holds be released because its review confirmed all four individuals are alive.
Oregon’s filing also asks the FCC to maintain the state’s authority to administer Lifeline eligibility outside the federal verification system. The commission said its opt-out status is important for maintaining accurate eligibility and mortality determinations and argued that its state processes provide reliable safeguards for the program.
The filing goes beyond deceased subscribers. Oregon recommended changes to Lifeline transfer procedures and minimum service requirements and raised concerns about how USAC calculates income eligibility. The state called for an independent review of potentially affected income-based Lifeline certifications and recertifications.
Oregon said it remains committed to working with federal officials on Lifeline program integrity but argued that its four decades of experience administering the benefit support maintaining its state-based verification system.
