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EID Expansion Denied by CMS

Feb 17, 2023

It has been reported that the expansion of eligibility for the Employed Individuals with Disabilities (EID) program which was proposed in May 2022 and came into effect later in the year has now been quashed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)....

What’s In a Number? 1619(b) in 2023

Jan 27, 2023

The somewhat lesser broadcast Section 1619(d) of the Social Security Act winds its way through the statement that "(t)he Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Education shall jointly develop and disseminate information, and establish training programs...

2023 Federal Poverty Levels Released

Jan 20, 2023

The Department of Health and Human Services has just published the new Federal Poverty Levels (FPL). As might be expected by the name, the basic 100% poverty level is low and comes in at annual income for a household of one of $14,580. Broken down to a monthly amount...

A Mixed Review: News on ABLE Accounts

Jan 13, 2023

There’s been a recent development in who can set up and use an Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) account. Since the ABLE Act was passed and signed into being in 2014 by President Obama it has allowed individuals with disabilities to set up tax-free savings...

Your Turn: What Do You Want to Discuss in 2023?

Jan 9, 2023

As we start another trip around the sun, we’ll keep the updates coming as they arrive but all the while we’d like to look to you to give us any suggestions on what you’d like to know more about, or to ask us any benefits-related questions that we haven’t yet...

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Working Works: It’s Still National Disability Employment Awareness Month

One would like to imagine that it was a failing of this writer's observational powers rather than the lack of promotional ability of the organizers that, but for a fruitless quest for HP sauce* at a local Wegman’s I would not have known that this rapidly diminishing...

COLAs for 2027 Announced!

Social Security published its 2027 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) earlier this week. As is almost invariably the case monthly benefit payments will be higher, this year to the tune of 3.6%. For SSI recipients it means that the Federal Benefit Rate (FBR) will rise...

Goodnight, Virginia: SSA Closes VCU’s National Training Center

It was announced last Monday that the WIPA National Training and Data Center, would be shut down with immediate effect. The NTC, which was under the auspices of Virginia Commonwealth University, has been a primary source of training, education and support of Work...

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...