Every household that receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will see its ceiling move higher starting October 1, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual cost-of-living adjustment takes effect. For a two-person household in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., that ceiling climbs from $546 to $562 a month, a $16 increase tied to…

When one spouse moves into a nursing home and applies for Medicaid to cover the bill, federal law is supposed to stop the other spouse from being wiped out along with the savings account. Every year, the dollar figures behind that protection change, and this summer they changed again: as of July 1, 2026, a…

Households that receive help buying groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have long faced a hard ceiling on savings: build up too much money in the bank, and the benefit disappears. Starting October 1, 2026, that ceiling moves for one specific group. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Administration is raising the…

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it negotiated $10.44 billion off the price of prescription drugs so far in fiscal year 2026, the largest total the agency says it has recorded for a single year. VA Secretary Doug Collins tied the number to tougher negotiating with drug manufacturers, saying the department is delivering what he…

Nine more pharmaceutical companies have agreed to sell their products to state Medicaid programs at “most-favored-nation” prices, the discounted rates that other wealthy countries already pay. The White House announced the deals on August 31, bringing the total number of manufacturers in the program to 26. For a household that depends on Medicaid to cover…

Almost all the attention on the coming food-stamp update goes to the maximum amount a household can receive. Two deduction figures are rising alongside it: the cap on how much high housing costs can shrink a household’s countable income, and the flat standard deduction applied to every SNAP case. Those numbers rarely make headlines, but…

Hawaii is about to become the only place in the country where the maximum food-stamp benefit gets smaller rather than larger. Starting October 1, 2026, the maximum SNAP allotment rises in the 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hawaii is the lone exception: the ceiling for a…

President Donald Trump signed a short-term government funding bill into law on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, keeping federal agencies open and continuing food assistance benefits through December 11. The bill, H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, had cleared the House by a lopsided 370-48 vote the day before it reached his desk.…

Starting October 1, 2026, the federal government will stop matching state spending on full Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for many lawfully present immigrants who are not green-card holders, Cuban or Haitian entrants, or migrants covered under a Compact of Free Association. The change comes from a provision buried in the 2025 federal…

Every October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture resets how much a household on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program can receive, and 2026 is no exception. Starting October 1, the maximum monthly SNAP benefit for someone living alone rises to $306, and the net income test that decides who can even apply for it climbs to…