Author: Elizabeth Blessing
-
SSI recipients must report a pay change, a move or more money in the bank by the 10th of the next month, or late penalties can shrink the check
A raise, a new address or a bigger savings balance can all change what Supplemental Security Income pays, and Social Security wants to hear about each one on a fixed schedule. The rule is the 10th day of the month after the change happens. A change that takes place in October has to be reported…
-
Food stamp households in Maryland with no one 60-plus or disabled must show a utility bill from the last 30 days to keep the $572 allowance under Trump’s 2025 law
Maryland’s Department of Human Services is warning food stamp households that one piece of paper can change a monthly benefit. Households with no one 60 or older and no one who is disabled have to provide a utility bill from the last 30 days to keep the full $572 standard utility allowance, the department says.…
-
The IRS says people who never filed a return, or have not filed in over six years, may need another way to pay than free Direct Pay
Free Direct Pay is the IRS’s no-fee way to pay a federal tax bill from a bank account, but it has a catch for people who are behind on filing. In a September 10 news release, the IRS said taxpayers who have never filed a tax return, or who have not filed in more than…
-
Social Security lets a divorced spouse married 10 years or more collect on an ex’s record at 62, without shrinking the ex’s check or a new spouse’s
A divorced spouse can collect Social Security on an ex’s work record, and the payment does not come out of what the ex or the ex’s new husband or wife receives. Social Security’s retirement benefits guide says a former spouse qualifies when the marriage lasted at least 10 years. The claimant must be 62 or…
-
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota ends most Medicare Advantage plans December 31 after more than $500 million in Medicare losses, and members can switch by December 7
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is ending most of its current Medicare Advantage plans on December 31, the insurer said in an October 1 statement. The company says it lost more than $500 million on Medicare over the past three years. Members have until December 7 to pick a 2027 plan that starts…
-
Food stamp benefits at least 274 days old on Indiana EBT cards will be wiped starting November 23, and the state says removed benefits cannot be replaced
Indiana will start taking back old food stamp dollars next month. Beginning November 23, 2026, the state says, every SNAP benefit that is at least 274 days old, about nine months, will be removed from the household’s EBT account. Once the money is gone, Indiana says plainly that it will not be put back. The…
-
Humana’s 2027 Medicare Advantage exits reach about 600,000 members, who can pick a new plan by December 7 or switch from December 8 through February 28
Humana is cutting Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, and the insurer’s own estimate is that the exits will reach approximately 600,000 members. Chief Financial Officer Celeste Mellet gave the number on the company’s second-quarter earnings call on July 29. Members who get an exit notice have until December 7 to pick new coverage that starts…
-
Eligible food stamp households of one or two people in the 48 states and D.C. are guaranteed at least $25 a month from October 1 through next September, up from $24 last year
The smallest SNAP households have a slightly higher floor this month. The Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Administration has set the minimum monthly benefit at $25 for eligible one- and two-person households in the 48 states and Washington, D.C. That is up from $24 in the 2026 fiscal year, and it runs from October 1,…
-
Only 15 Medicare Advantage contracts earned five stars for 2027, down from 22
Fifteen Medicare Advantage contracts that include drug coverage earned the top five-star rating for 2027, down from 22 a year earlier, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency published the ratings on October 8, 2026, a week before Open Enrollment began. The drop comes as the number of rated contracts barely…
-
Treasury’s new account-ownership and tax-ID checks became fully operational Sept. 30 and now run on federal payments before they leave
The Treasury Department says two new payment checks are now fully operational. One confirms who owns the bank account a federal payment is headed to, and the other confirms that a Taxpayer Identification Number is present and in the right format. Treasury reports that both became fully operational on September 30, 2026, and that payments…