Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
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....
Treasury has proposed letting farmland sellers pay the tax on their gain in four yearly installments when the buyer is a qualified farmer
Treasury and the IRS have proposed rules that would let farmland sellers pay the tax on their gain in four yearly installments, as long as...
Treasury and the IRS have proposed limiting who can claim the health insurance premium tax credit, with comments closing November 30 and a hearing set for December 8
Treasury and the IRS have proposed new rules that would limit who can claim the premium tax credit, the subsidy that lowers monthly premiums for...
Anyone who applies for Medicaid from January 1 gets one or two months of retroactive coverage instead of three, depending on the group, under the law enacted in July
Starting with applications filed on or after January 1, 2027, Medicaid will reach back only one or two months before the month a person applies,...
Food stamp households in Pennsylvania must prove their rent and utility costs at their next renewal or have their benefit figured without those deductions
Pennsylvania households that get food stamps, known formally as SNAP, now have to document what they pay for rent and utilities. Current recipients who have...
Food stamp purchase bans start November 1 in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia, and USDA now lists 23 states with approved waivers
Four states are scheduled to stop SNAP benefits, the program once called food stamps, from paying for sweetened drinks and candy on November 1: Montana,...
The White House says $500 refunds are going out to nearly a million people in 30 states who bought HealthCare.gov coverage without premium help
The White House says $500 refund checks are going out to nearly a million people who bought HealthCare.gov coverage without premium help. The one-time payments...
Trump’s voided tariffs face 27 consumer lawsuits, and none has a claim process
Twenty-seven consumer lawsuits now accuse retailers and manufacturers of passing along President Trump’s tariffs and then keeping the refunds, and not one of them has...
Trump’s forced-labor tariffs on 60 trading partners stay in force for now
Tariffs of 10 percent or 12.5 percent on imports from 60 trading partners remain in force while the Court of International Trade weighs a challenge...
Trump’s worldwide surcharge, in force February 24 to July 24, still has no court-ordered refunds for importers after an appeal stay froze a May ruling that it was unlawful
President Trump’s 10 percent worldwide tariff, in force from February 24 to July 24, has produced no court-ordered refunds for importers. A May ruling that...
Trump’s struck-down emergency tariffs now have a certified class of importers who never sued, after a trade court’s October 8 order aimed at refunds for all of them
The U.S. Court of International Trade has certified a class of importers who paid President Trump’s emergency tariffs and never filed suit to get the...
Ohio Medicaid expansion adults 19 to 64 must show 80 hours of work or activities, or qualifying income, monthly from January 1, 2027, and renew every six months
About 774,000 Ohioans are enrolled in Medicaid as working-age expansion adults, and the Ohio Department of Medicaid expects roughly 62,000 of them to lose eligibility...
SNAP’s automatic work-rule exemption for about 1,310 adults in seven rural Oregon counties without a WorkSource center runs only through December, the state says
About 1,310 Oregonians on SNAP in seven rural counties do not have to meet the program’s work rule right now, and the state says that...
Trump’s October 16 order puts the new Russia and Iran sanctions law into effect but waives the law’s added import duties for now, the White House says
President Trump signed an executive order on October 16 that carries out the new sanctions law aimed at Russia and Iran, then switched off its...
The Trump administration awarded New Hampshire more than $11 million for rural EMS
New Hampshire is getting more than $11 million to strengthen rural ambulance and emergency medical services, the Trump administration announced on October 16. Gov. Kelly...
Medicare Advantage insurers would have to check provider directories every 90 days, CMS proposes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is proposing that Medicare Advantage insurers verify and update their provider directories at least every 90 days. The...
The Trump administration is sending Ohio $92 million for rural health care
The Trump administration is sending Ohio $92 million to reshape rural health care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on October 16. The...
Seniors on both Medicare and Medicaid with the lowest incomes would owe nothing for generic drugs starting in 2028 under a CMS proposal released October 16
The $1 copay for generic drugs would drop to $0 for the lowest-income people who have both Medicare and Medicaid, beginning with plan years that...