Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
Missouri Medicaid expansion members will get no short-term hardship exception when work rules begin January 1, 2027
Missouri adults on Medicaid expansion who lose a job, get sick for a short spell or face a family emergency will not get an automatic...
Arkansas ARHOME members face Medicaid work-rule enforcement in January after a 30-day warning period
Arkansas has been practicing for months, and the real thing starts January 1, 2027. Members of ARHOME, the state’s Medicaid expansion program, who cannot show...
Maryland says about 15,000 non-citizens may lose Medicaid after eligibility changes took effect October 1
Refugees, asylees and several other groups of lawfully present immigrants in Maryland lost standard Medicaid eligibility when new federal rules took effect October 1. The...
Colorado Medicaid starts work requirements January 1, with letters first reaching members up for March renewal
A letter from Health First Colorado in January will be the first sign for some members that Medicaid work requirements are real. The state says...
Idaho Medicaid expansion applicants must show three months of 80-hour compliance before approval next year
Idaho adults who apply for Medicaid expansion coverage next year will have to show three straight months of qualifying activity before the state approves them....
Connecticut Medicaid adults 19 to 64 face 80 monthly work hours or $580 in pay, plus six-month renewals, starting January 1
Connecticut adults 19 to 64 who have HUSKY D will have to prove every month that they work, train, volunteer or study, and they will...
Maryland projects about 152,000 Medicaid expansion adults could lose coverage when work rules begin
Maryland’s health department projects that about 152,000 Medicaid expansion adults could lose coverage once federal work rules begin on January 1, 2027. The estimate comes...
VA vocational rehabilitation payments rose October 1, bringing a full-time veteran in institutional training with no dependents to $837.23 a month
The monthly allowance VA pays veterans in its vocational rehabilitation program went up on October 1. A full-time veteran in institutional training with no dependents...
Missouri SNAP applicants and households up for recertification must now prove rent, utilities and bank balances instead of just stating them
Missouri now wants paper proof of rent, utilities, child care and bank balances from people who apply for SNAP, recertify or add a household member....
Pennsylvania Medicaid applicants get at most two months of retroactive coverage starting January 1
Pennsylvania Medicaid will approve coverage for care received no more than two months before the month of application starting January 1, 2027, down from three...
Louisiana says 210,877 Medicaid expansion adults have no verified earnings on file before January’s 80-hour work rule
Louisiana’s Department of Health says 210,877 adults in the state’s Medicaid expansion group have no verified earnings on file as the 80-hour work rule nears....
Arizona Medicaid members in Coconino County may need to document 80 monthly work hours when the new rule starts
Coconino County says roughly 10,000 to 12,000 of its residents could need to meet or document new Medicaid work rules when they begin in January...
Trump signed a two-year window letting ministers opt back in to Social Security, beginning with tax years after 2028
President Trump signed the Clergy Act on October 20, giving ministers who once opted out of Social Security a two-year window to opt back in....
SNAP lets households with a member 60 or older or disabled skip the gross income test, hold $4,750 in assets and deduct medical bills over $35 a month
Households that include someone 60 or older or someone with a disability follow different SNAP income and asset rules, and the fiscal 2027 income tables...
The FTC says hospital price-transparency rules do not shield a company from deception claims
The Federal Trade Commission has told 24 of the nation’s largest health care services companies that following federal hospital price-transparency rules does not protect them...
The White House says about 500,000 Kansas seniors benefit from the new deduction
The White House says about 500,000 Kansas seniors benefit from the new senior deduction. The count appears in an October 19 release on Kansas tax...
Food stamp recipients in 15 northern Michigan counties also lose their time-limit exemption on October 31
Fifteen northern Michigan counties lose their shield from the three-month food stamp time limit on October 31, 2026, when a USDA waiver runs out. The...
A USDA waiver exempting food stamp recipients in Detroit, Flint and Saginaw from the three-month time limit expires October 31
A USDA waiver that exempts food stamp recipients in Detroit, Flint and Saginaw from the three-month time limit expires October 31, 2026. The Food and...
Utah exempts caregivers of children 13 or under from its new Medicaid work rule, and Nevada exempts parents of children under 13 and people drawing unemployment
Two states that start Medicaid work requirements on January 1, 2027 have named different exemptions. Utah excludes a parent, guardian or caregiver of a child...
A Nevada food stamp time-limit waiver expires January 31
A federal waiver that spares people in one Nevada county and 12 reservation areas from the SNAP work-rule time limit ends on January 31, 2027....