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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...

From Out of the Shadows (Part Two): Unsuccessful Work Attempts

May 25, 2018

As was promised in last week’s blog this week we’ll be looking at the Unsuccessful Work Attempt (UWA). UWA is another unheralded and under-documented ‘tool’ available to Social Security staff when they’re trying to assess if an SSDI recipient is really working at...

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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...