Category: Benefits & Retirement
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Treasury now requires a hardship waiver for federal benefits paid any way but electronic payment, since paper checks stopped for most payments
The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service says federal benefit payments must now be paid electronically, either by direct deposit to an account at the recipient’s financial institution or by electronic payment to a Treasury-sponsored account, unless the recipient holds a waiver under 31 CFR Part 208. Paper checks have stopped for most federal…
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SSI pays on December 1 and again on December 31, putting two deposits in December with the second at the higher 2027 rate
Supplemental Security Income recipients will see two deposits in December 2026. The first lands Tuesday, Dec. 1, the regular first-of-the-month payment. The second lands Thursday, Dec. 31, and it is the first payment at the higher 2027 rate. The Social Security Administration announced on Oct. 14 that a 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment takes effect for…
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Social Security mails the paper 2027 benefit notice only in early December
Social Security plans to mail paper notices showing each person’s new 2027 benefit amount in early December, weeks after an online version becomes available. The agency’s message to the public says people who sign up for paperless notices can see theirs in late November. The notices carry the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, which Social Security puts…
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Social Security rewrites its heart-disease disability rules October 30, and the new criteria apply to claims already waiting for a decision
A heart disability claim that is still waiting on a decision when October 30 arrives will be judged under Social Security’s rewritten cardiovascular rules, not the old ones. Applications filed on or after that day get the new criteria too. Until then, the current listings keep applying. Will a claim filed before October 30 be…
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Social Security adds heart listings for cardiomyopathy and valve disease October 30
Social Security will add three new heart conditions to its disability rulebook on October 30, 2026. Cardiomyopathy and aortic valve disease each get a listing of their own, and so does cardiac allograft vasculopathy, the artery damage that can develop in a transplanted heart. The agency’s final rule covers both Social Security Disability Insurance and…
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Not one stand-alone Medicare drug plan earned five stars for 2027, after two did last year
No stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan earned five stars in the government’s 2027 quality ratings, which came out October 8. Two stand-alone plans held the top rating for 2026. The change lands in the middle of open enrollment, which started October 15 and runs through December 7, 2026. The ratings are published by the Centers…
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CHRISTUS Health Plan ends its three Medicare Advantage plans December 31, and the reward dollars members have not spent expire the same day
CHRISTUS Health Plan is ending its three Medicare Advantage plans on December 31, 2026, and any Rewards and Incentives dollars members have not spent expire the same day. Members who do nothing will be moved to Original Medicare on January 1, 2027. The plan’s own member page on 2027 coverage changes says the CHRISTUS member…
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Social Security stops the withholding until it decides if an overpayment notice is answered inside 30 days with form SSA-561-U2
Social Security holds off collecting an overpayment while it decides a request, if the request arrives inside 30 days of the date on the notice. The agency’s overpayment page puts it plainly: “If you ask for a waiver or appeal within 30 days, we won’t collect the money until we decide on your request.” The…
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Treasury says a Trump order’s new payment screening stopped about 13,500 federal payments worth $175 million before they reached dead people
The Treasury Department says its new payment screening has identified and returned about 13,500 federal payments, worth $175 million, that would have gone to people who had died. The money was stopped before it was disbursed. Treasury announced the figure October 6, and says the work follows a Trump executive order signed in March 2025.…
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The $500 Obamacare refund checks began going out September 30, an administration official says, and the 20 states that run their own exchanges get none
The Trump administration has started mailing $500 checks to people who bought Obamacare coverage on HealthCare.gov without any premium assistance. An administration official told ABC News the checks went out beginning Wednesday, September 30. The 20 states that run their own health insurance exchanges are not part of the program. Which 30 states are getting…