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Property Essential to Self Support (PESS): The Forgotten SSI Work Incentive

May 21, 2021

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) countable resource limit hasn't increased a dollar since the original Ghostbusters topped the box office and Daley Thompson won the decathlon at the Los Angeles Olympics (1984 in case you're wondering). It's resolutely stuck at...

SSA Overpayments? Go On-line to Pay Them Off

May 13, 2021

Included in a newly updated Social Security publication on overpayments was a two-line addition recording a new option for paying the agency back. Yes, you can now clear your debt on-line by going here https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/834689469 Once there you'll...

Spotlight on Homelessness and Social Security

May 7, 2021

Yvonne Perret, the Maryland-based founder of the SSI/SSDI Outreach Access and Recovery (SOAR) program recently published a blog on Social Security's website that is well worth the read. The blog shares some factual insights into the challenges faced by homeless...

Social Security Looking for Feedback to Move Forward

Apr 30, 2021

Under the regulations of 2018's Evidence Act the Social Security Administration, as a federal agency, is required to seek public input into how they are doing and as to how they can improve policies and procedures. The SSA has put out a request for information from...

SSA’s New Webpage Looks to Help Those Helping Others

Apr 23, 2021

A recent press release by the Social Security Administration announced the creation of a new webpage dubbed "People Helping Others" that will serve as the hub for all manner of questions regarding SSA and SSI benefits. The page is primarily addressed to those in the...

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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...