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The Pickle Amendment: Keeping Medicaid When COLAs Make You Ineligible for SSI

Feb 11, 2022

Jake Pickle was a US Representative of the 10th District of Texas between 1963 and his retirement in 1995. A Democrat, he voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, ’65 and ’68. In 1983 he worked on increasing the full retirement age for Social Security, a...

Dear Reader, What Would You Like to Discuss in ‘22?

Feb 4, 2022

The new year’s updates have all been completed and we’re settling into another year. We’ve had the good news about the Social Security COLAs and the bad news about the Medicare Part B premiums; the Federal Poverty Level is up again, and Social Security said they were...

Update on SNAP Maximum Allotments

Jan 28, 2022

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), still more commonly known as food stamps, has an annual maximum allotment depending on the size of the household. The figures for 2022 came into place back in October 2021 as the US Department of Agriculture works...

2022 Federal Poverty Levels Released

Jan 20, 2022

The new year brings with it an expected change in the US Federal Poverty Guidelines, and as would also be expected, they are a little higher than before. The guidelines are used to determine the financial eligibility for state and federal programs, and so play a huge...

SSA Delay Plans on Office Returns

Dec 31, 2021

In a brief note to customers delivered just before Christmas Social Security let it be known that they would not be sending their staff back to offices on January 3, 2022, as had been planned earlier in the month. The original re-entry plan was revealed almost as the...

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SNAP Tackles Pop: States Ban Food Stamp Purchases of Soda and Candy

There have always been restrictions on what you can buy with food stamps, now dubbed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (a godsend to sub-editors everywhere). The simple, if perhaps occasionally dubious, pleasures that alcoholic beverages provide...

2026’s 1619(b) Thresholds Are Out!

Unlike many annual changes in the benefits world, which are announced on a fairly rigid schedule, recent history has shown that we can never quite be sure when the new thresholds for 1619(b) are going to be announced. Fortunately, this year there hasn’t been much of a...

Health Check: Changes to Medicaid in Maryland

The new year is an obvious time to make changes if that’s what you’re going to do and it might seem that if things are going to be different for Medicaid beneficiaries now would be the time to learn what’s new. Oddly enough, even though there are changes afoot,...

What’s New? Update on 2026 Benefits Changes

Now that we have to admit that the holidays are truly over and we're embedded in the new year, for better or for worse, it's worth having a quick look over the new annual figures that will affect those of us who receive federal benefits. By now everyone who receives...

Happy Holidays from MDBCN to You!

Another year comes to another close and although we can hardly look back on 12 months of love, peace, and harmony we can always hope for that in the future. Whatever may come to pass, we at the Maryland Benefits Counseling Network will continue to endeavor to keep you...

Getting Better: ABLE Changes for 2026

Back in 2022 Congress passed a bill that is about to go into effect. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act decreed that as of January 2026 the age threshold for Achieving Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts would increase from 26 to 46. The ABLE Act has been around for more...

A Bitter Pill: Medicare Costs in 2026

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the 2026 premium and deductible figures. It’s a familiar story, as those costs are up again. The standard Medicare Part B premium will raise eyebrows and blood pressure as it increases by $17.90 a...

From the Horse’s Mouth: SSA Commissioner Delivers 2025 Fiscal Report

Gues what? It’s all good. On November 20 Frank Bisignano, Social Security’s Commissioner, published his letter to Congress detailing the agency’s achievements in 2025. The letter, which you can read in full here (Commissioner Letter to Congress: Year in Review) begins...

SNAP’s Back: Federal Food Stamp Payments to Resume

After the longest shutdown in its 249-year history the US government officially re-opened on Wednesday when its president signed a bill allowing funding until January 30 next year. While this would certainly appear to be only a temporary easing of the situation it...

Forking Out: SNAP Updates and Maryland’s Response

It is now widely known that it is forty-two million Americans who receive SNAP benefits, still also known as food stamps. They remain at the mercy of a government, which has remained shut down for thirty-seven days at the time of writing, and shows no sign of opening...