Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Social Security’s maximum check for a worker retiring at 70 in January 2027 is $5,358 a month, against $3,094 for one who claims at 62
A worker who has paid the maximum into Social Security every year and retires in January 2027 would collect $5,358 a month by waiting until 70, according to the agency’s Office of the Chief Actuary. The same worker claiming at 62 would get $3,094 a month, a difference of $2,264 every month for life. Those…
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Home heating oil averages $6.19 a gallon as Trump’s Energy Department lends up to 315,000 barrels from its Northeast reserve, with deliveries due by November 13
The Energy Department said on October 21 that it will lend up to 315,000 barrels of fuel oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, a step aimed at easing a supply disruption before winter. The loan comes as the U.S. Energy Information Administration puts the national residential price of heating oil at $6.19 a…
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People leaving Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare during open enrollment get no federal guarantee of a Medigap policy unless a trial right or plan exit applies
Medicare’s fall open enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, 2026, and it lets people drop a Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Original Medicare. What the switch does not come with is a promise that a private insurer will sell a Medigap supplement to the person making it. Medicare.gov says plainly that…
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Social Security survivor benefits pay a widow or widower up to 100% of the late spouse’s benefit at full retirement age, and payments start at 71.5%
Social Security pays a surviving spouse a share of the late spouse’s benefit, and that share runs from 71.5% to as much as 100%. The agency says the full 100% arrives at the full retirement age for survivor benefits, which falls between 66 and 67. A widow or widower who applies sooner gets a smaller…
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Food stamp rolls fell in 52 of 53 states and territories over the year to July, USDA data show, with Texas down 683,838 people and Florida down 629,600
Food stamp participation, which the government calls SNAP, shrank in 52 of the 53 states and territories in the latest federal count. Texas lost 683,838 people between July 2025 and July 2026, and Florida lost 629,600. Only Alaska added people, and nationwide the rolls fell by more than 5.5 million. What does the USDA count…
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Fifteen insurers capped enrollment in 65 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, one at just 410 members, and a plan that fills up must turn away new applicants
Fifteen insurers have set enrollment caps on 65 of their Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, and the smallest cap is 410 members. Once a capped plan reaches its limit, it cannot accept another applicant until space opens up. Medicare’s annual enrollment period runs through December 7, 2026, so a plan picked late in the season…
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Social Security lets beneficiaries change direct deposit by phone only after they get a one-time code at ssa.gov/PIN, a guard against stolen benefit payments
A Social Security beneficiary who wants to change direct deposit over the phone has to bring a one-time code to the call. Social Security says the code comes from ssa.gov/PIN, and the agency says the extra step is meant to stop thieves from rerouting benefit payments to their own accounts. The phone option has existed…
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Trump’s White House calls it no tax on Social Security, but the IRS says people 65 and older get a $6,000 deduction through 2028 that phases out above $75,000
The White House headlines it “No Tax on Social Security,” but the 2025 budget law did not end the tax on benefits. What it added, the Internal Revenue Service says, is an extra $6,000 deduction for people 65 and older that applies for 2025 through 2028 and shrinks for higher earners. The label appeared again…
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Food stamp error rates put 21 states and territories on track to pay the biggest share of SNAP benefits as soon as October 2027 under Trump’s 2025 law
Twenty-one states and territories posted SNAP payment error rates of 10% or higher for fiscal 2025, which puts each of them in the top bracket of the cost-sharing system created by the 2025 budget law. Under that bracket a state pays 15% of its own SNAP benefits, starting as soon as October 1, 2027. The…
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About 390,000 UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage members are losing their plans for 2027, the company says, and can switch by December 7 or through February 28
UnitedHealthcare is ending Medicare Advantage plans for about 390,000 members at the end of 2026, the company says. Letters dated October 2, 2026 went to the people affected, and anyone who does nothing lands in Original Medicare on January 1, 2027. The 390,000 figure came from UnitedHealth spokesperson Eric Hausman, who told Healthcare Brew by…