Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
The housing allowance a nursing home spouse can keep rose to $811.50 in July
Every July 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services resets a pair of linked dollar figures that decide how much income the spouse of...
States have until March 31 to file paperwork for a Medicaid rule that starts January 1
A federal Medicaid rule can bind a state’s renewal calendar on January 1, 2027, months before the paperwork certifying that the state actually follows it...
Medicaid’s new work rule can also be waived for a county under a presidential disaster declaration
A little-noticed feature of the federal Medicaid work rule lets a state excuse an entire county’s caseload from the community engagement standard if the President...
Only veterans rated totally disabled are exempt from Medicaid’s new work rule
The federal rule creating a new Medicaid work requirement carves out an exemption for veterans, but the exemption is far narrower than the word “veteran”...
New Medicaid applicants must prove they worked the month before they apply
A person applying for Medicaid for the first time under the new federal work requirement cannot simply promise to meet the standard going forward. The...
Medicaid renewals move to every six months next year, and Native Americans are exempt
Not every Medicaid enrollee’s renewal clock speeds up under a rule taking effect at the start of 2027. States must begin renewing eligibility every six...
Medicaid will pay only two months of past bills for most enrollees starting January 1
Medicaid’s retroactive coverage window narrows on January 1, 2027, and it narrows unevenly. Enrollees outside the Affordable Care Act expansion group — including most people...
Forty states have signed the Medicaid drug pricing deal, and the rest have until September 30
Every state Medicaid program in the country, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, applied to a federal initiative built to bring most-favored-nation...
Anyone Medicaid cannot verify under the new work rule gets 30 days to respond before coverage ends
A federal rule set to take full effect January 1, 2027 gives Medicaid agencies a fixed 30 calendar days to hear back from anyone whose...
Ten states already restrict what food stamps buy, and three more join them within 48 hours
Ten states now restrict what Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients can buy with their benefits, and three more are set to join within a roughly...
States cannot force food stamp recipients aged 60 to 64 into work programs, but the time limit still applies
A single Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program overhaul now tells state caseworkers two things about the same person at the same time. Someone who turns 60...
Food stamp enrollment has fallen by 5.3 million people in a single year while the average benefit barely moved
The number of Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits fell by more than 5.3 million people between June 2025 and June 2026, a 12.8...
A projected 3.9% raise would add about $156 a month to a $4,000 veterans’ disability check
A veteran drawing $4,000 a month in VA disability compensation would see roughly $156 more each month in 2027 if the cost-of-living adjustment lands where...
Food-stamp eligibility still caps countable assets at $3,000, with a higher limit for senior households
SNAP applicants who are not elderly or disabled still cannot hold more than $3,000 in countable assets and remain eligible for food assistance, a ceiling...
A stopgap law funds the government through December, so Social Security and food-stamp payments keep flowing
President Trump signed a stopgap spending law on September 2 that funds the government through December 11, closing off the threat of a shutdown at...
The Trump administration restarted seizing pay from defaulted student borrowers
The Department of Education has resumed involuntary wage garnishment against borrowers whose federal student loans are in default, restarting a collection tool that had sat...
A budget proposal would zero out the heating aid that helps six million households this winter
The White House’s fiscal year 2027 budget request would eliminate all federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the roughly $4 billion...
Trump’s drug deals now cover nearly 90% of the branded market
As of September 18, 2026, the Trump administration counts 26 pharmaceutical manufacturers with signed most-favored-nation pricing agreements, together covering an estimated 89% of the U.S....
The most a family of four can get in food stamps rises about $29 in October
The maximum monthly food-stamp allotment for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., rises to $1,023 on October 1, a...
Obamacare refund checks begin reaching nearly a million people in 30 states who paid full premiums this October
A federal refund program is beginning to reach nearly one million Americans in 30 states this October, according to a White House fact sheet published...