HOUSTON -- Free phone service paid for by the government? You're asking Amy if this is really true.

It started with a flier mailed out in Houston and across the country. KPRC Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis looks into the claims.

Having home phone service is so commonplace, you might even consider it a necessity. But when hundreds of Houstonians received a curious mailer a couple of weeks ago, it sparked a lot of questions.

The flier reads "Get food stamps? Then get free phone service too! Government pays for home phone service!"

A man named Rufus e-mailed, "I cannot believe this. Is this why I am working? So welfare recipients can have a phone?"

"It's just a gimmick to get someone in," said Barbara McGinity of the Houston Better Business Bureau's Education Foundation.

McGinity said, at the very least, the ad is misleading.

"People are using this opportunity of change and stimulus, and all these different kinds of talks to kind of con you into things that don't exist."

The BBB tracked the ad and its Web site back to a pre-paid phone company called Angles Communication Solutions out of Tennessee.

Angles has received 104 BBB complaints in the last three years. No one from Angles would return our calls, so we started looking into that free phone service from the government.

We got the Public Utility Commission's Terry Hadley on the line.

"We would never describe it as free phone service," said Hadley.

There is a program called Lifeline. It offers a discount on phone service to people who can't afford it.  In Texas, Lifeline is managed by the PUC.

The service is not "free" like the ad claims.

Hadley said the maximum discount is $13.50 for the first month, and you can get it with whatever phone company you currently use.

"If you have a landline and you meet the basic requirements, you can get Lifeline service," said Hadley. "You don't have to have it as part of a special phone package bundled with other services."

Online, Angles does clarify that if you qualify, only your first month is free. All other months are discounted for a flat rate of $25.

"It's not a scam," said McGinity.  "But I would say it's probably a ripoff because you're going to sign up for something, and then you're probably going to pay more than you've ever realized you've paid."

The Lifeline phone discount is not new. It's actually been around since 1984. It's paid for by the Universal Service Fee that many phone companies and some consumers pay.

In 2008, 10.2 million Texans received about $34.5 million in Lifeline discounts.

Some states are now applying the Lifeline discount to cell phones. Texas doesn’t yet offer the discount on cell phones.

To find out if you qualify for Lifeline and how to apply, visit the PUC's Web site.