Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Social Security mails the paper 2027 benefit notice only in early December
Social Security plans to mail paper notices showing each person’s new 2027 benefit amount in early December, weeks after an online version becomes available. The agency’s message to the public says people who sign up for paperless notices can see theirs in late November. The notices carry the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, which Social Security puts…
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Kansas spreads an overdue heat bill over twelve months to stop a shutoff
Kansas customers who fall behind on a heating bill can keep their service on through cold weather by agreeing to a payment plan that stretches the overdue balance over twelve months. The Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities, lays out the terms in its Cold Weather Rule. The plan is a condition of…
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Knox County, Nebraska storm victims get until January 7 to file
The Internal Revenue Service has postponed a long list of tax filing and payment deadlines to January 7, 2027, for people and businesses in Knox County, Nebraska. The relief follows a severe storm that began on September 9, 2026, and the state’s disaster declaration. The IRS announced it on October 14 as notice NE-2026-08. Knox…
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Social Security rewrites its heart-disease disability rules October 30, and the new criteria apply to claims already waiting for a decision
A heart disability claim that is still waiting on a decision when October 30 arrives will be judged under Social Security’s rewritten cardiovascular rules, not the old ones. Applications filed on or after that day get the new criteria too. Until then, the current listings keep applying. Will a claim filed before October 30 be…
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Social Security adds heart listings for cardiomyopathy and valve disease October 30
Social Security will add three new heart conditions to its disability rulebook on October 30, 2026. Cardiomyopathy and aortic valve disease each get a listing of their own, and so does cardiac allograft vasculopathy, the artery damage that can develop in a transplanted heart. The agency’s final rule covers both Social Security Disability Insurance and…
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Not one stand-alone Medicare drug plan earned five stars for 2027, after two did last year
No stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan earned five stars in the government’s 2027 quality ratings, which came out October 8. Two stand-alone plans held the top rating for 2026. The change lands in the middle of open enrollment, which started October 15 and runs through December 7, 2026. The ratings are published by the Centers…
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Indiana blocks utility shutoffs from December 1 to March 15 for eligible households that applied for energy aid, open to a family of four earning up to $64,533
Indiana households that qualify for the state’s Energy Assistance Program cannot have their gas or electric service cut off between December 1 and March 15 once they have applied. The protection comes from Indiana Code 8-1-2-121, and it applies to regulated utilities. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority is taking applications for the new…
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Heating aid opens November 1 in Utah as Missouri and Kansas start barring winter heat shutoffs the same day
Utah’s heating assistance program opens for the season on November 1, the same day cold-weather rules in Missouri and Kansas begin limiting utility shutoffs for the winter. All three dates are 11 days away. The protections are not automatic in every case. Each state ties its rule to a temperature forecast, and the payment terms…
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CHRISTUS Health Plan ends its three Medicare Advantage plans December 31, and the reward dollars members have not spent expire the same day
CHRISTUS Health Plan is ending its three Medicare Advantage plans on December 31, 2026, and any Rewards and Incentives dollars members have not spent expire the same day. Members who do nothing will be moved to Original Medicare on January 1, 2027. The plan’s own member page on 2027 coverage changes says the CHRISTUS member…
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Trump signed the Romance Scam Prevention Act, which will force dating apps to warn members within 24 hours when a match is banned for fraud
President Donald Trump signed the Romance Scam Prevention Act on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The law, H.R. 2481, will require online dating services to warn members who were messaged by someone the service later banned for fraud. The default deadline for that warning is 24 hours after the ban, but the rule does not start…