Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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The FTC warns scammers pay for top search results during Medicare and Marketplace enrollment
Federal Trade Commission staff are warning that scammers and dishonest businesses sometimes pay to land at the top of search results while Medicare and Marketplace open enrollment is under way. A person who types “Medicare plans” into a search box and taps the first result may not end up at the government. The warning, in…
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Vice President Vance’s fraud task force is asking officials at every level of government to pledge to stop fraud before the money goes out, the White House says
Vice President JD Vance is asking officials at every level of government to sign a pledge to stop fraud before the money goes out, the White House said Oct. 16. Vance leads the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, and the announcement lists governors, cabinet secretaries, state auditors, U.S. attorneys and members of Congress…
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Wisconsin households earning up to $39,864 for one person can now apply for WHEAP heating help, with heating benefits expected to average $441
Wisconsin households can now apply for the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program, known as WHEAP, which helps pay winter heating bills. A one-person household can have gross income of up to $39,864 a year and still qualify, and the state expects the average heating benefit to be $441. The Wisconsin Department of Administration announced on…
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Massachusetts will pay the SMART solar charge on electric bills from January through March
Massachusetts says it will cover the SMART solar charge on electric bills for three months this winter, January through March 2027. Gov. Maura Healey’s administration plans to move $80 million in state money to pay it, so the charge is not passed on to ratepayers. The governor’s October 5 announcement says the state will transfer…
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Refugees and asylees no longer qualify for Kentucky Medicaid under federal changes that began Oct. 1, and lose Marketplace premium tax credits starting Jan. 1, 2027
Federal changes that took effect October 1, 2026 end Medicaid eligibility in Kentucky for refugees and asylees. On January 1, 2027, those same groups also lose the premium tax credits that lower the cost of Marketplace health plans. Kentucky says affected Medicaid members will be contacted. The Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange spells out both dates…
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Social Security caps a spouse’s benefit at half of what the worker would get at full retirement age, and claiming before full retirement age reduces that share
The most a spouse can collect from Social Security is half of the worker’s benefit at full retirement age. A spouse who claims before reaching that age of their own gets a smaller share of the half, and the cut grows with every month of waiting skipped. The Social Security Administration’s retirement age and benefit…
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A child of a retired or disabled worker can get up to half of the parent’s full Social Security benefit, subject to a family maximum
Social Security pays benefits to the children of retired or disabled workers, and the most a child can receive is half of the parent’s full benefit. A family limit can lower that amount when several people collect on one worker’s record. For a grandparent or parent on Social Security with kids at home, the child…
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Michigan regulators warn Medicare open enrollment brings scam calls and fake Medicare postcards
Michigan’s insurance regulator and health department are warning older adults that Medicare open enrollment, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, 2026, is a busy season for scammers. The warning names unsolicited phone calls and mailers that look like government communications, including a postcard claiming to be from Medicare. Both are described as scams.…
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The IRS lets a widow or widower who sells the home within two years of the spouse’s death, before remarrying, keep the larger married-couple home-sale tax exclusion
Surviving spouses who sell the family home within two years of the death, and have not remarried, can keep the larger home-sale tax exclusion that married couples get. That means up to $500,000 of profit can be excluded from tax instead of the usual $250,000 for a single owner. The rule comes from the tax…
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Louisiana voters decide Nov. 3 on an amendment letting parishes or cities, with local voter approval, add a senior homestead exemption reaching $30,000 of assessed value at 81
Louisiana voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether to let parishes and municipalities give older homeowners a bigger property tax break. The proposed constitutional amendment would add a senior homestead exemption that grows with age and reaches $30,000 of assessed value for homeowners 81 and older. Passing it at the statewide ballot box is only…