Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Food stamps end at the next recertification for North Carolina refugees, asylees and most parolees under Trump’s 2025 law, in effect there since February 1, the state says
North Carolina households that include a refugee, an asylee or most parolees are losing food stamps, the benefit officially called SNAP, one recertification at a time. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says the change took effect February 1, 2026 under a federal law passed in 2025, and that affected households keep…
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Social Security’s watchdog says next year’s raise for 76 million people is automatic and warns of callers who charge fees to ‘activate’ it
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General says the 2027 cost-of-living raise is automatic, and no one has to pay to receive it. In an alert dated October 21, 2026, the watchdog warned that scammers are using the increase to pitch fees to “activate” it or to raise a payment. The raise applies…
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Medicaid work rules from Trump’s 2025 law reach expansion adults in 44 states including D.C. on January 1, and 34 states plan to recheck compliance every six months, KFF found
Medicaid work requirements from President Trump’s 2025 law start January 1, 2027, and KFF counts 44 states, including the District of Columbia, that must apply them to adults covered through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. A separate KFF survey, taken in the first three months of 2026, found that 34 states plan to verify…
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CHRISTUS Medicare Advantage members who miss the December 7 deadline can still switch until February 28, but Plus and Complete enrollees lose drug coverage after December 31 unless they join a new Medicare Advantage plan by then
CHRISTUS Health Plan is ending its Medicare Advantage plans on December 31, 2026, and members have until December 7 to pick new coverage that starts January 1. Anyone who misses that date gets a second window, a special enrollment period that runs December 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027. For members of the Plus and…
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Food stamp shoppers in Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia can still buy soda with SNAP, and candy in Iowa and Tennessee, after a June court ruling set aside their bans, USDA shows
Four states that planned to stop SNAP shoppers from buying soda and other sweets are not enforcing those bans, because a federal judge threw out the approvals behind them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s table of food restriction waivers shows Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia as court-blocked, and the page was last updated October…
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Social Security recipients paid on the 3rd get their first raised check of 2027 early, on Thursday, December 31, the same day SSI’s January payment arrives
Social Security beneficiaries who are paid on the 3rd of the month will receive their January 2027 payment early, on Thursday, December 31, 2026. It is the first check with the 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase built in, and it lands the same day as January’s Supplemental Security Income payment. A holiday and a weekend are…
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Veterans’ disability claim form should shrink from 15 pages to 5 by December 2026
The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to cut the main application for disability benefits from 15 pages to 5. The shorter version of VA Form 21-526EZ is projected to be available for use by December 2026, VA says, but it is a proposal for now, and the 15-page form is the one on file today.…
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Pennsylvania secured $700,000 in restitution for Gillece customers it says were sold unneeded sewer work
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced on October 22, 2026 a settlement that secures $700,000 in consumer restitution from Gillece Services, LP and Gillece Plumbing and Heating, Inc. The state says the companies misled customers into paying for unnecessary home improvement work, especially sewer pipe replacements. The money comes with a $50,000 payment in costs…
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ASI Lloyds filed a homeowners insurance rate cut affecting 71,000 Texas policyholders
Progressive’s Texas homeowners company has asked the state to approve lower prices. ASI Lloyds, a Progressive company, filed a 6% decrease that affects 71,000 Texas policyholders, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. Homeowners insurance is the bill many Texas households have watched climb for years, which makes a filed cut notable even before it…
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Connecticut regulators flagged rate cuts for some State Farm, Farmers and Liberty Mutual auto customers among 19 auto filings from 14 insurers
“Connecticut families continue to face challenges with insurance affordability,” Insurance Commissioner Josh Hershman said on October 16, in announcing that his department had found auto rate decreases waiting in the filings it reviews. He called the filings “a positive development.” The Connecticut Insurance Department counted 19 personal auto filings from 14 companies that include rate…