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A Kinder Cut: SSA Simplifies Rental Subsidies for SSI Recipients

Jun 13, 2024

A few weeks ago we discussed a change to the rules governing SSI’s In-kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) which seemed to have the needs of the beneficiary at heart as they looked to take out the calculations on food costs. While that appears to be a somewhat flawed...

Remembering the Greats: Subsidies and Special Conditions Work Incentive

May 24, 2024

In this weekend of remembering the past it’s worth noting that SSDI emerged from a program initiated during the Second World War to compensate and assist civil defense workers who became disabled in the course of their work to protect the nation. One of the key work...

Sorry Figures: SSA Launches Customer Service Tracking Program

May 9, 2024

A recent press release from our friends at Social Security announced the arrival of SecurityStat, which the agency declares is “an agencywide, cross-cutting performance management program—to accelerate the deployment of customer service improvements.” Further reading...

Slimming Down: SSA Simplifies Rules on In-Kind Support and Maintenance

Apr 19, 2024

The former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley took over the reins of Social Security in December last year in his role as the agency’s commissioner. Naturally, it’s still o early to see what lasting effect he’ll have but he has recently overseen a change that is...

Opportunity Cost: HUD Eliminates the Earned Income Disregard

Apr 11, 2024

In an essay from 1976 the Italian economist Carlo Cipolla outlined some fundamental laws of stupidity. He avers that we underestimate the number of stupid people out there; we underestimate the destructive power of stupidity; stupid people are the most dangerous of...

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In Exile: Impending Medicaid Eligibility Denials for Non-Citizens

Emma Lazarus’ 1883 sonnet ‘The New Colossus’ was written in the same year that she established in New York the Society for the Improvement and Colonization of East European Jews; an organization designed to provide aid to refugees escaping antisemitic violence and...

Education Matters: Maintaining Child’s Benefits at 18

Much to the dismay of students and teachers, another summer vacation has come and gone and one must again spend those long hours in the classroom looking wistfully out of the window as someone whitters on about some nonsense or other. For a small but significant...

In The Loop: SSA Changes Policy on Re-routing Calls

As anyone who has been obliged to call Social Security knows, the wait time has been prohibitively long. In the last year of the Biden administration the average wait was 60 minutes, which was bad enough, but in 2025 under the present regime that had increased to a...

An August Occasion: Celebrating National ABLE Savings Day

This year August 14 marks, amongst other notable events, the 236th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Väräla which brought about an end to the Russo-Swedish War; exactly 124 years later the arrival of British Expeditionary Force in France saw the beginning of...

Priority Treatment: SSA Adds to the Compassionate Allowance List

A fresh press release from Social Security will provide some good news to potential beneficiaries who experience a range of disabilities. Fourteen relatively obscure conditions have been added to the agency’s Compassionate Allowance policy. The policy allows Social...

Won’t Get Food Again: SNAP Eligibility in Decline

Recent articles in The Atlantic and by NPR have highlighted the growing concern in the reduction in the number of food stamp beneficiaries over the past year. The current figure, as estimated by the Department of Agriculture, stands at around 37 million recipients,...

Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Social Security Adds New Features to MySSA Accounts

A recent press release from Social Security looked to encourage applicants who have found themselves having to appeal a denial to use a My Social Security account when working through that process. Evidently very keen on getting you on board, the agency has produced a...

Summer Break: Maryland’s SUN Bucks Program

Originally launched by Governor Wes Brown back in 2024 Maryland’s Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, which trades under the SUN Bucks title, is back for another year. SUN Bucks is the state’s provision to allow eligible families with children aged between 5...

Food Security: New EBT Cards Coming Soon!

Maryland’s Department of Human Resources announced last week that they would be rolling out new Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards as part of a modernization plan designed to ward off food stamp thievery. The new cards will have the same capabilities as regular...

No Going Back: Medicaid Retroactive Eligibility Span Reduced

The Budget Reconciliation Act of 2025 has provided this blog with a seemingly ceaseless font of bad news stories. Here’s another one. Currently someone applying for Medicaid can get retroactive coverage for up to three months prior to the date of application as long...