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Those Golden Years: Earned Income and Retirement Benefits

Jan 31, 2018

As we enter our sixties there hovers on the near horizon both the haven and the challenge of retirement. For all of us, current SSI/SSDI beneficiaries or not, there are also some quite novel regulations with regard to how Social Security treats us and our earned...

Maryland Employment Network Website Has Arrived!

Jan 23, 2018

We are delighted to be able to announce the launch of the new Maryland Employment Network (MD-EN) website! Job seekers, this new-look site will help you learn all about MD-EN, their team of vocational rehabilitation partners, and how they can work with you to achieve...

Reporting Earnings to Social Security: Common Myths Debunked

Jan 17, 2018

The sight of any letter from Social Security often causes your average SSI or SSDI recipient, from fear of what lies within, to want to cast the offending item, unopened, into the nearest recycling bin. Although there are some quite innocuous reasons why Social...

Reminder – 2018 SSI & SSDI Figures Are Now In Effect!

Jan 8, 2018

The new year brings with it new figures to be aware of with regard to SSI and SSDI. As was broadcasted on this website back in October, SSI and SSDI recipients' benefit amounts have seen a 2% COLA increase. This change means that the maximum amount of SSI an...

The Work Activity Report – SSA’s Most Important Tool for Keeping Work Records Up-To-Date!

Dec 20, 2017

If you are an SSDI beneficiary and have worked in the past while receiving your benefits or are currently working, there is an important Social Security form you should be familiar with called a 'Work Activity Report – Employee' (form SSA-821). Social Security uses a...

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Goodnight, Virginia: SSA Closes VCU’s National Training Center

It was announced last Monday that the WIPA National Training and Data Center, would be shut down with immediate effect. The NTC, which was under the auspices of Virginia Commonwealth University, has been a primary source of training, education and support of Work...

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...