
Originally Posted by
Teacher Terry
For all of you drooling over the free obama phone it is a cheap flip phone. YOur income must be very low to qualify. A good friend of mine at 57 had to retire from the state because of severe MS. She worked her whole life at low paying jobs and unfortunately for her only 11 years with the state. That gave her a whopping 900/month pension of which 500 went to pay for her health insurance. She had to wait till 62 to get SS. She did not qualify for disability SS because she retired from a state that did not pay in. I tried to get her low income housing, etc and was always rejected. Without that cheap, free phone she would have had no phone service. Luckily her sister died young and left her 60k which she used to supplement her income until 62. It was not accessible where she lived in a one room and bath so she was basically stuck home. By the time you are qualifying for free stuff your life is basically in the toilet so don't waste your time being envious. Ironically we finally got her into a decent, accessible apartment because she qualifies by having more $ . If you are too poor they don't let you in but if your income falls within guidelines you can get in and not have to pay full market rate which is really expensive where we live.