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1619b Threshold Figures for 2019 Already Announced!

Having had to wait until nearly halfway through 2018 for last year's figures, this year Social Security has been able to publish their threshold amounts for the 1619b provision with a certain degree of punctuality. Although there's no guarantee that the threshold will...

2019 Federal Poverty Level Guidelines are In!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has just published the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) guideline figures for this year. These figures, which as would be expected have increased from 2018, are used to determine eligibility for Medical Assistance through...

The Closed Period: Benefits for Disabilities Past

When you apply for benefits you are effectively saying that you have a disability that is expected to last for at least a year. Most applicants will expect that the disability will last considerably longer than that but there is the option to receive benefits to cover...

Shining a Light on Black Lung Benefits

The Federal Black Lung Program, which has been around since 1969, provides benefits to miners who contracted pneumoconiosis whilst working in coalmines and who have since become unable to work due to their condition. Coalworkers’ Pneumoconiosis (CWP), which is another...

A Quick Note on SSI and Child Support Payments

SSI recipients are highly likely to be fully aware that any other income other than earned income is going to reduce their SSI quite markedly. Indeed, for the most part, there is only the standard $20 General Income Exclusion (GIE) that stands in the way of a complete...

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...

Working It Out: SNAP Eligibility Changes and Maryland’s Response

The current administration’s legislation on changes to work requirements for SNAP recipients are now in force and beneficiaries are feeling the effects. H.R.1’s new rules require non-exempt adults aged between 18 and 64 to show proof of employment, volunteering or job...

Centralized Planning: SSA Announces Administrative Changes to Disability Reviews

In a press release from last week Social Security made it known that they are in the process of transitioning how Continuing Disability Reviews (CDR) will be conducted. If you receive SSDI or SSI you’ll probably be aware that, unless you have a Ticket to Work in use...

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...