Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Food stamp benefits can be wiped nine months after they are issued
Food stamp benefits can be wiped from an EBT card nine months after they were issued, even when the card is in regular use. The U.S. Department of Agriculture put that in writing in a November 2025 memo to state SNAP agencies, and it said states are “strongly encouraged” to work this way. Federal law…
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A widow can claim a survivor benefit at 62 and let her own grow
Social Security lets a widow start her survivor benefit at 62 and leave her own retirement benefit alone to grow. The agency’s claiming planner prints exactly that example: a woman who starts only her survivor benefit this year and lets her retirement benefit increase until age 70. At 70, she switches to the larger retirement…
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Paying a full share of rent and utilities protects an SSI check completely
Social Security says an SSI recipient who shares a home and pays a full share of the household bills sees no cut in the monthly check. The rule sits in the agency’s provisions on in-kind support and maintenance, the label for housing help that someone else provides. When the share falls short, the payment can…
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SSI pays nothing for a month that opens with countable resources above the limit
Supplemental Security Income pays nothing for a month in which a person’s countable resources are above the limit when the month begins. Social Security’s rules put the test on the first day, so a balance that drops later in the month does not bring that month’s check back. The limit is $2,000 for an individual…
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Treasury and the IRS have proposed limiting the health premium tax credit to citizens and certain lawfully present immigrants from 2027
Treasury and the IRS have proposed new rules that would limit the health premium tax credit to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and certain lawfully present immigrants, starting in 2027. The IRS announced the proposal on October 14, 2026, in news release IR-2026-121. The rules are proposed, not final. Nobody gains or loses a credit because…
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Social Security applies deemed filing at every age from 62 to people who turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016, while an older group is bound by it only until full retirement age
Social Security’s deemed filing rule decides whether a person can start one benefit and let another keep growing. For anyone who turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016, the answer is no: deemed filing applies from age 62 and extends to full retirement age and beyond. People who turned 62 before that date face…
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Social Security trims a long-delayed retroactive payment when SSI already covered those same months, an offset that catches winning claimants out
Winning a Social Security disability or retirement claim after a long wait can end with a back-pay check that is smaller than expected. The reason is a rule called the windfall offset. When Supplemental Security Income already paid a person for the same months, Social Security reduces the retroactive payment by the SSI that would…
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A medical stay of 90 days or less may let an SSI recipient keep the regular check instead of dropping to the facility rate, the agency says
A short hospital or rehab stay does not have to cut an SSI check to almost nothing. Social Security says a person who will be in a medical institution for 90 days or less may be able to receive the regular SSI benefit. Without that exception, a long stay paid mostly by Medicaid drops the…
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A yearly earnings statement is free from Social Security; a certified copy is not
The Social Security Administration has raised the price of several records it hands out to people who need them for something other than a benefit claim. A plain yearly earnings statement is not one of them: it stays free. A certified copy of a detailed earnings record is a different matter, and the new fee…
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The White House calls the $500 payments a return of Obamacare overcharges, funded from a surplus in the fees the federal exchange collects
The White House is describing a round of $500 payments as a return of Obamacare overcharges. Its fact sheet says the federal government will return “hundreds of millions in Obamacare overcharges” and ties the money to an exchange user-fee surplus. The administration says checks start going out in October 2026. What does the White House…