Category: Government Programs
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The immigration-court green card application fee rose to $1,590 from $1,540 on Oct. 1
The fee for a green card application filed in immigration court went up $50 on October 1. The Justice Department’s immigration-court system now charges $1,590 for Form I-485, the application to become a permanent resident, up from $1,540. The new immigration-court amount The change comes from a notice that the Executive Office for Immigration Review,…
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VA’s $10-a-day hospital charge for some veterans is extended only through Dec. 11
Congress has pushed back the end date for a per-day hospital charge that the Department of Veterans Affairs collects from some veterans, but only by about ten weeks. A spending law approved September 2 moved the cutoff for the $10-a-day charge from September 30, 2026 to December 11, 2026. What the extension changed The change…
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Most Pennsylvania food stamp recipients get an average of $18 more a month starting Oct. 1, and the minimum benefit rose to $25
Food stamp benefits in Pennsylvania went up on October 1. Most recipients get an average of $18 more a month, and the smallest monthly benefit rose from $24 to $25. The state Department of Human Services announced the change on September 29, and said that no one’s benefit goes down because of it. The annual…
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Veterans who owe VA for a benefit overpayment can now get 36 months to repay instead of 12 when above the minimum monthly payment, with no financial form for plans up to 60 months
Veterans who owe the Department of Veterans Affairs for a benefit overpayment can now be placed on a repayment plan of 36 months instead of 12, and plans of up to 60 months no longer need a financial form. The change appears in a VA notice published in the Federal Register on Oct. 6. It…
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The Trump administration froze new Obamacare agent and broker sign-ups on the federal marketplace until Feb. 1 after canceling about 315,000 policies covering more than 760,000 people
Federal health officials have shut the door on new insurance agents and brokers for the federal Obamacare marketplace, and the freeze lasts until Feb. 1, 2027. The Trump administration’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced it weeks after it canceled about 315,000 policies covering more than 760,000 people who had signed up with an…
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Virginia food stamp households can no longer buy soda, including diet and zero-sugar soda, starting Nov. 1, while juice, milk and sports drinks stay eligible
Starting November 1, a grocery trip on Virginia SNAP will look different at the register. Soda, including diet soda and zero-sugar soda, can no longer be paid for with food stamp benefits, while juice, milk and sports drinks stay on the eligible list. The change comes from the Virginia Department of Social Services, which runs…
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The food stamp time limit now reaches adults up to age 64 instead of 54, and veterans and homeless adults no longer get an automatic exemption, USDA says
Adults on food stamps up to age 64 now fall under the program’s work time limit, ten years past the age 54 cutoff that applied before. Veterans and homeless adults no longer get an automatic exemption from it either, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says in an implementation memo to state SNAP agencies. Food stamps…
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Wartime veterans’ low-income surviving spouses with no children can get up to $11,699 yearly from VA, or $18,697 with Aid and Attendance
A widow or widower of a wartime veteran can draw a VA pension of up to $11,699 a year, and up to $18,697 if Aid and Attendance applies, as long as the household income is low enough. Those are the maximum annual rates for a surviving spouse with no dependent child, according to the Department…
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Nebraska wants to bar candy from food stamp purchases starting March 1, 2027 and soda from Dec. 1 under a request USDA has not approved, with comments due Nov. 2
Soda would come off the SNAP shopping list in Nebraska on Dec. 1 and candy on March 1, 2027, if the U.S. Department of Agriculture says yes to a request it has not yet decided. A Federal Register notice published Oct. 2 asks for public comment, and “written comments must be received on or before…
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Nebraska’s Medicaid work rule has cost at least 1,090 people their coverage or their application, Georgetown researchers say, before the federal rule reaches other states by Jan. 1
Nebraska is the first state to enforce a Medicaid work requirement, and the first numbers show people losing coverage over paperwork. Researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families count at least 1,090 Nebraskans who have lost coverage or been denied at application since the rule began. In an analysis posted Sept. 30, executive…