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All About EID: Seeking Feedback on Your Experience

Jul 20, 2018

If you are currently enrolled in or have had experience applying for Maryland's Employed Individuals with Disabilities (EID) program, please consider taking a moment to fill out a survey and provide feedback about your experience - positive or negative. Willing to...

Wage Reporting: Now with Automatic Reminders

Jul 3, 2018

In a further update to the new wage reporting options, Social Security is now offering beneficiaries the chance to opt in for an automatic reminder to report their wages. It doesn't matter which method anyone uses to report their wages, be it by mobile app, phone...

2018 1619b Threshold Amounts Announced!

Jun 26, 2018

It has been a long while coming, but Social Security have just announced the 2018 threshold amounts for 1619b and in Maryland it has increased from $40,005 to $40,365. For a full list of those changes and for some more information on 1619b please have a look...

Breaking News! On-line Wage Reporting Now Available to SSI Recipients

Jun 11, 2018

It was not too long ago that any working SSI beneficiary had quite limited and decidedly 20th century methods for reporting his earnings to Social Security. Those options expanded with the introduction of the automated Telephone Wage Reporting system (SSITWR) and the...

Taking Account of Blind Work Expenses (BWE)

Jun 4, 2018

The existence of the rather enticing range of work incentives shows that there’s no denying that Social Security has an interest in encouraging all beneficiaries to see if they can keep working or return to work in some capacity. While there are incentives that cover...

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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...