Read our Latest Posts

SSA National Disability Forum Coming Soon

Sep 5, 2022

In this month’s Social Security updates, the agency has announced an up-coming forum whichwill center on working to help those experiencing homelessness access SSA benefits for whichthey may well be eligible. The pellucidly titled “Homelessness: Working with...

SSA Adds More Conditions to the Compassionate Allowance List

Aug 26, 2022

It was almost exactly a year ago that this blog announced twelve additional conditions and diseases that would be considered by Social Security to meet their criteria for Compassionate Allowances. Twelve months later another twelve conditions have been added to the...

SSA Makes Further Updates to My Social Security Accounts

Aug 19, 2022

In their on-going push to get everyone to conduct their business without having to communicate directly with anyone at the agency, Social Security has announced a couple of tweaks to the My Social Security account. If you receive Social Security benefits and need to...

Need Help with Food Stamps? There’s Assistance Out There

Aug 12, 2022

A recent article in the Baltimore Banner brought to light the plight of many Marylanders who were receiving food stamps but who, through no fault of their own, lost eligibility through miscommunication issues during the annual redetermination process. The Department...

Modifications Made to SSI Mobile Wage Reporting

Aug 5, 2022

The Social Security Administration has had in place for a few years now various options for SSI recipients to report their earnings. Where once it was advisable to go in person to your local office or to fax your pay stubs, you could also just call in and let a worker...

« Older Entries

Next Entries »

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...