Category: Benefits & Retirement
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SSI pays up to the full benefit for six months out of any nine in a public shelter
A stay in a public homeless shelter does not automatically cut off Supplemental Security Income. Social Security says people who live in one can keep getting up to the maximum SSI benefit for up to six months out of any nine. For 2026, that maximum is $994 a month for an individual. The rule is…
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Nine groups are exempt from Medicaid’s new 80-hour work rule
Nine groups of people are excluded from the new Medicaid work requirement, which asks certain adults to show 80 hours a month of work, volunteering or school. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services lists them in its rule. Anyone in one of those groups does not have to log hours to keep coverage. States…
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States will redetermine Medicaid for expansion adults every six months from January
Low-income adults covered through Medicaid expansion are about to move from one renewal a year to two. Starting with renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027, states must redetermine Medicaid eligibility for the expansion adult group every six months instead of every twelve. The change comes from a federal law, not a state choice,…
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A veteran who disputes a benefit debt within 30 days freezes collection
A veteran who gets a letter saying VA overpaid a benefit has 30 days from the day that first letter arrives to dispute the debt. A dispute filed inside the window stops collection until VA decides. The clock starts when the letter is received, not when the overpayment happened. VA lays out the rule on…
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Social Security asks for an overpayment back within 30 days
A Social Security overpayment letter comes with a clock. The Social Security Administration (SSA) tells people who get one to pay the money back within 30 days. That instruction is a request, not a legal deadline to appeal, and a form filed inside the 30 days can change what happens next. SSA’s own overpayments page…
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More than twenty VA authorities expire on December 11, including the agency’s power to collect hospital and nursing home copayments
Congress extended more than twenty Department of Veterans Affairs programs and powers only until December 11, 2026. The list includes the agency’s authority to collect copayments for hospital and nursing home care. Unless lawmakers pass another extension, those authorities lapse on that date. The extension is part of Public Law 119-103, the Continuing Appropriations and…
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SNAP retailers other than specialty food stores must stock at least 28 staple food varieties by November 4 or be dropped from the program and barred from reapplying for six months
Stores that accept SNAP have until November 4, 2026 to meet a tougher stocking rule, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture will take them out of the program. The rule calls for at least seven varieties in each of four staple food categories, which adds up to 28. A store that falls short can no…
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Social Security’s rewritten heart-disease rules take effect October 30 and apply to every disability claim filed or still pending that day
Social Security has rewritten the medical rules it uses to judge heart and circulation problems in disability cases, and the new version starts on October 30, 2026. The change covers adults and children, and it applies to claims already sitting in the system as well as brand-new ones. That timing matters for anyone who applied…
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Food stamp soda bans in Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia still carry no start date almost four months after a federal judge vacated them
Four states that asked to bar SNAP shoppers from buying soda with their benefits still have no start date for those limits. A federal court vacated the approvals on June 22, 2026, and almost four months later USDA’s waiver table shows nothing to replace them. The states are Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia. SNAP…
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A random ZIP code lottery pulls about a quarter of Original Medicare’s Part B drug patients into a pricing test on April 1, with no notice and no opt-out
The federal government has finalized a Medicare drug pricing experiment that will cover about one in four people in Original Medicare, and the people picked will not be told. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) chose them by drawing ZIP code areas at random. The agency says there is no way to opt…