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New Report Shows SSI Work Incentives Need Work

Sep 24, 2021

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report to the US senate’s Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy which highlighted how far we are from truly assisting SSI recipients who are looking to work their way out...

Want to Improve SSI? Here’s A Chance

Sep 17, 2021

The Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy is holding a hearing at 2:45pm next Tuesday, September 21 with the expressed purpose of working towards establishing policy options that will improve Supplemental Security Income...

Parent’s Benefits: Financial Support if the Worst Should Happen

Sep 10, 2021

It’s said that there is no worse prospect in life than that a parent should have to bury her child. That it should happen while the child is still young or later in adult life there is little that can alleviate the agony of the experience. Social Security have made...

Social Security Expands Compassionate Allowances Program

Sep 3, 2021

A couple of weeks ago Social Security announced that a dozen more severe conditions had been added to the list of those already allowed under their own Compassionate Allowances Program. The program was designed to speed up the SSDI and SSI application process by...

Social Security National Disability Forum Coming Soon: Register Now!

Aug 27, 2021

Social Security have been running a National Disability Forum for a number of years. It’s designed to allow anyone with an interest in the workings of the agency to give their insight and to share their experiences. Social Security tend to hold these forums around...

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Spread the Word: Social Security Promotes ‘Slam the Scam’ 2026

National Consumer Protection week, which has been sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission since 1998, is soon to be upon us. It runs from March 1 to 7 and is designed to spread awareness and provide information to us, the consumers, on how to best safeguard our own...

Cold Comfort: The Scope of Maryland Energy Assistance Programs

The recent cold snap has brought with its rock-heavy snow and breathtakingly icy winds the reminder of how lucky the majority of us are to have warm homes in which we can hide away until the temperatures rise again. Of course, not all of us can rely on such comforts,...

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...