Category: Benefits & Retirement
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A Medicare Advantage plan must give 45 days’ notice before dropping your primary care doctor
Losing access to a trusted doctor without warning is one of the more disorienting things that can happen to a Medicare Advantage enrollee, and federal rules exist specifically to prevent it from happening overnight. When a plan cuts a primary care doctor or behavioral health provider from its network, it cannot simply stop covering visits…
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Social Security says disability decisions now arrive 40 days faster than in January 2025
More than eight million Americans currently receive Social Security Disability Insurance, and the agency says the wait to find out whether a new claim is approved has gotten meaningfully shorter. In a blog post marking the program’s 70th anniversary, the Social Security Administration reported that initial disability decisions are now arriving 40 days faster than…
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Social Security lets a disabled worker earn $1,210 in a month without spending a trial work month
A person who receives Social Security disability benefits and wants to try going back to work has a specific number to watch every month in 2026: $1,210. That figure decides whether a working month counts against the nine months SSA allows a beneficiary to test their ability to work without immediately losing benefits. It rose…
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Social Security rescinded a 1990 ruling on how below-market rent reduces an SSI check
A federal notice that ran on August 31, 2026 doesn’t change how any current SSI check is calculated, but it does something federal agencies rarely bother to do out loud: it formally retires a piece of guidance from 1990 that hasn’t matched the actual rule for nearly two years. The notice tells SSA staff and…
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Lee Health is ending its UnitedHealthcare contracts, pushing Fort Myers hospitals out of network for Medicare Advantage on January 1
One of Southwest Florida’s largest hospital systems has told the country’s biggest health insurer it is done doing business together, and the fallout lands squarely on Medicare Advantage enrollees around Fort Myers. Lee Health notified UnitedHealthcare on August 26 that it is ending its hospital and physician contracts, a move that will push every Lee…
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Medicare Advantage plans can charge up to $9,850 in network next year, and $14,800 once care goes out of network
Medicare has just locked in the dollar ceiling a Medicare Advantage plan is allowed to charge enrollees in 2027, and the number is higher than what plans could charge this year. For anyone who ends up needing extensive hospital or specialist care, the figure that matters most is not the monthly premium. It is the…
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SNAP’s savings limit for households with someone 60 or older rises to $4,750 on October 1
A household does not lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility just because it has some money saved, but there is a ceiling, and it is about to move for the first time since last fall. Starting October 1, households with a member who is 60 or older, or who is disabled, will be allowed to…
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Supplemental Security Income now averages $737 a month across 7.4 million people
Supplemental Security Income gets described in most coverage as a flat monthly check, but the number that actually lands in a recipient’s bank account depends on a formula most people never see. The Social Security Administration’s newest accounting of the program, covering January 2026, breaks that formula down person by person rather than reporting a…
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SNAP’s maximum benefit for a family of four rises to $1,023 on October 1
Every October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recalculates how far a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit is supposed to stretch, based on the rising cost of a basic grocery basket. The federal fiscal year 2027 adjustment is now final, and it raises the maximum monthly amount a household can receive across the 48 contiguous states…
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Treasury and the IRS published sample forms to simplify a 401(k) rollover
Moving money out of an old 401(k) has long meant navigating a patchwork of paperwork that varies from one plan administrator to the next, with delays and lost forms a common complaint from savers trying to consolidate accounts. Treasury and the IRS have now put out a standardized set of sample forms meant to smooth…
