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2018 COLA Adjustments

Oct 30, 2017

2018 Brings Changes to Benefit and Work Incentive Amounts! The Social Security Administration has announced important cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for 2018. Social Security and SSI beneficiaries will see a 2.0 percent increase to benefit amounts effective...

NEW – Online Wage Reporting for SSDI Beneficiaries!

Oct 23, 2017

On September 23rd, 2017 the Social Security Administration announced a new option to report wages for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries. To date, individuals who receive SSDI benefits and their Representative Payees could only report wages by...

Pay Your Medicare Premiums Online!

Aug 23, 2017

Most individuals who receive a cash benefit from Social Security and have Medicare are able to have Medicare premiums automatically deducted from their monthly benefit. However, for those who no longer receive a cash benefit, making Medicare premium payments just got...

Job Vacancy Announcement – Benefits Case Manager

Aug 4, 2017

Job Vacancy Announcement - Benefits Case Manager The Maryland Benefits Counseling Network is excited to announce that recruitment for a full-time contractual Benefits Case Manager position has begun! Please see the detailed position announcement below. Interested...

Social Security Administration 2017 Red Book

May 31, 2017

The Social Security Administration's Red Book is now available for 2017!The Red Book (SSA Publication No. 64-030) serves as a general guide to Social Security work incentives and employment supports of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental...

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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...

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...