Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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A food stamp retailer caught trafficking can face permanent disqualification and heavy fines, and USDA says it sends some cases to criminal prosecutors
A store that takes food stamps and is caught trafficking in them can lose the right to do so for good. USDA says the penalties for retailers run from a temporary removal to permanent disqualification from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, plus fines, and that some cases go to criminal prosecutors. The…
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CMS lists nine groups excluded from the new Medicaid work rule, among them veterans rated totally disabled, pregnant people and anyone already meeting food stamp rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has named nine groups of people who are excluded from the new Medicaid work requirement. They include veterans with a total disability rating, people who are pregnant or eligible for postpartum coverage, and members of households receiving SNAP, the food stamp program, who are not exempt from SNAP’s…
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Fraud against older Americans may have cost as much as $119.5 billion last year, far above the roughly $3 billion victims reported to the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission says fraud against older Americans may have cost as much as $119.5 billion in 2025. Victims aged 60 and over told the agency they lost roughly $3 billion, which means the reported figure may capture only a small slice of the harm. The numbers come from the FTC’s annual report to…
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Social Security will post 2027 benefit amounts in the my Social Security message center in late November, and Medicare enrollees can see their new figure there first
Social Security’s 2027 cost-of-living raise is 3.6 percent, and the first place most people will see their own new amount is online. The agency says account holders can open their notice in the my Social Security Message Center starting in late November, weeks before any paper letter reaches a mailbox. The Social Security Administration announced…
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The White House says 26 drugmakers have signed its Medicaid pricing deal, covering most of the branded drug market
The White House says 26 drug manufacturers have now signed agreements to lower what state Medicaid programs pay for brand-name drugs. It says the companies cover most of the branded drug market. The announcement came in a fact sheet dated September 18, 2026. It is a claim by the administration, and the fact sheet does…
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SSI stops for up to 36 months when a recipient gives away or under-sells a house or car, with the penalty months set by the gift’s value and the full federal rate
Giving away a house or a car, or selling one for far less than it is worth, can cost a Supplemental Security Income recipient their SSI for as long as three years. Social Security’s rulebook says the penalty can run up to 36 months, and the length depends on how much value was handed over.…
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The IRS says the senior deduction survives itemizing, so a 65-year-old writing off mortgage interest and medical bills keeps it too, for tax years 2025 through 2028
Taxpayers who itemize their deductions do not have to give up the new senior deduction. The IRS says the extra $6,000 for people 65 and older is available to both itemizers and people who take the standard deduction, and it applies for tax years 2025 through 2028. That settles a question many older homeowners have…
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USDA requires a state to give a household notice before it wipes unspent food stamp benefits, a step the agency’s own memo says has to come first
A state cannot quietly erase unspent SNAP food stamp money, according to guidance the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent to every state agency. The memo says the federal law behind SNAP “requires States to provide sufficient notice to the household before expungement,” which means the household has to be told before the balance is wiped.…
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The Western Union fraud-petition deadline moved from August to December 31, extending it for grandparent, sweepstakes and romance scam victims who have not filed
Victims of old wire-transfer scams who sent money through Western Union now have until December 31, 2026 to file a petition for repayment. The Justice Department process had set the deadline at August 19, 2026, and the remission website now says petitions must be postmarked or submitted online on or before December 31. The money…
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Social Security must give each victim of number misuse one specially trained team accountable until the case closes, under a law signed October 7 that starts in 180 days
A new federal law gives people whose Social Security number has been misused a single point of contact at the agency, and that contact stays on the case until it is resolved. The White House says the President signed the bill into law on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, and the change does not start right…