Category: Benefits & Retirement
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Earning $580 a month satisfies Medicaid’s new work rule without logging a single hour
A new federal Medicaid rule requires most working-age adults on the program to prove 80 hours a month of work, job training, schooling or community service to keep their coverage, starting no later than January 1, 2027. Buried inside that rule is a second, far simpler way to clear the same bar: show at least…
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Social Security replaces a 15-year-old rule on young-adult disability claims October 1
Beginning October 1, the Social Security Administration will judge disability claims from 18-to-25-year-olds using evidence rules it has not rewritten since 2011. The update, formalized as Social Security Ruling 26-2p, changes how caseworkers weigh school records, job tryouts and medical evidence when a young adult files a first disability claim, ages out of a childhood…
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A one-person elderly or disabled household can earn $2,195 a month and still qualify for food stamps
Every fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture resets the income lines that decide who qualifies for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and this year’s update includes a number that catches a lot of households off guard. Starting in October, a person living alone who is 60 or older or who has a qualifying disability can…
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Food stamp households must report an income change of $150 or more starting October 1, up from $125
Starting October 1, some food stamp households will need a bigger swing in their monthly income before they are required to report it to their state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Administration has raised the dollar figure that triggers a mandatory report of a household income change from $125 to $150, effective…
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The maximum food stamp benefit for a two-person household rises to $562 a month on October 1
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…
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The healthy spouse of a nursing home resident can keep $2,705 a month and a home worth up to $1,130,000
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…
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An Ohio hospital system is dropping four insurers at once after contesting 9,000 denials for care already given
Genesis HealthCare System, the main hospital network serving Zanesville and Muskingum County, Ohio, has sent termination notices to four health insurers, telling them their contracts will end on January 1, 2027, unless the companies agree to new terms. The system says the move follows two years of rising claim denials and payment takebacks for care…
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Medicare is dropping the limits on when agents can call beneficiaries
Starting October 1, insurance agents and brokers selling Medicare Advantage and Part D plans will no longer have to wait 48 hours after a beneficiary signs a permission form before pitching them specific coverage, and educational meetings can flow directly into sales appointments in the same room. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized…
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Food stamp households with a senior or disabled member can hold $4,750 in savings starting October 1
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…
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In 12 states more than a fifth of Medicare Advantage members were forced to change plans this year
A peer-reviewed study published in JAMA in February 2026 found that the share of Medicare Advantage enrollees forced out of their health plan jumped to 10 percent nationally heading into this year’s coverage, roughly ten times the historical average. In 12 states, more than one in five Medicare Advantage members had no choice in the…
