Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
Adults over 64 stay exempt from Medicaid’s new 80-hour work rule, but 55-to-64s must document the hours
A federal rule finalized this summer will require millions of adults in the Medicaid expansion group to prove they are working, volunteering or in school...
Health-law subsidies lapsed, and marketplace premiums more than doubled for many people in their late 50s and early 60s
The enhanced subsidies that made Affordable Care Act coverage affordable for millions of people lapsed at the start of 2026, and the result has landed...
The PACT Act opened VA health care and benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits
For decades, a veteran who developed cancer or a chronic lung condition years after breathing the smoke of a military burn pit faced a frustrating...
A White House report says drug prices fell the most since 1963, though economists urge caution
The White House announced in August 2026 that prescription drug prices had recorded their steepest annual decline since 1963, framing it as evidence that the...
Trump’s drug-pricing order seeks “most favored nation” prices and promises cuts of 30% to 80%
A standing executive order directs the federal government to push drugmakers toward the lowest prices they charge in other wealthy nations, a policy the administration...
Food-stamp work rules now reach adults up to 64, who must log 20 hours a week
Adults as old as 64 must now document about 20 hours of work or training a week to keep their food stamps, after a change...
The new law cuts $186 billion from food stamps, the deepest reduction in the program’s history
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut federal spending on food stamps by roughly $186 billion through 2034, a reduction that budget analysts describe as...
California’s minimum wage rises to $17.40 in 2027, the highest of any state
California’s statewide minimum wage will climb to $17.40 an hour on January 1, 2027, cementing its place as the highest state floor in the country....
A veteran’s survivors can claim a VA burial allowance toward funeral costs
When a veteran dies, the Department of Veterans Affairs will help pay for the funeral, burial, and grave, but only if a survivor knows to...
Trump Accounts can also take up to $2,500 a year, tax-free, from an employer
The 2025 tax law that created Trump Accounts for children also lets an employer chip in, allowing a company to contribute up to $2,500 a...
Food stamps now require five years of legal U.S. residency to qualify
A change in the 2025 federal budget law has narrowed the list of immigration statuses that qualify for SNAP food benefits, and for most noncitizens...
A shrinking SNAP utility allowance is cutting about 29,000 households’ food benefits by roughly $58 a month
A change in the 2025 federal budget law is trimming the monthly food benefits of tens of thousands of households by narrowing who automatically qualifies...
A new federal rule limits a child’s Trump Account to low-cost index funds and caps the yearly fee at one-tenth of a percent
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have proposed a rule that would sharply narrow how money in the new Trump Accounts for children...
TrumpRx.gov is set to sell Ozempic and Wegovy for about $245 a month in cash, outside insurance
A federal program is preparing to sell two of the most sought-after weight and diabetes drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, for about $245 a month in...
Amazon must give identity-theft victims their account records free within 30 days under a $2.25 million federal order
A federal order against Amazon carries a number worth reading correctly: $2.25 million. That figure is a civil penalty the company will pay to the...
The FTC warns your own data can shape the online price you see
The price a shopper sees online is not always the price the person next to them sees. Federal regulators are now warning that the personal...
Section 301 tariffs now cover nearly all U.S. imports at 10% to 12.5%, while a promised rebate check stays a proposal
A broad tariff regime now sits on top of nearly everything the United States imports, applying a duty of either 10% or 12.5% to almost...
Starting in 2027, Medicaid’s expansion enrollees must reprove eligibility every six months, and missed paperwork can end coverage
Millions of adults covered through Medicaid’s expansion will soon have to prove they still qualify twice as often. A provision in the 2025 budget reconciliation...
The government will seed $1,000 into a child’s new Trump Account, but about 3 million families still haven’t claimed it
The federal government is offering to deposit $1,000 into a newly created savings account for millions of young children, a one-time seed that requires no...
Seniors 60 and older can deduct medical costs to raise their food-stamp benefit
Millions of older Americans receiving SNAP take a smaller food benefit than the rules actually allow because they never report their medical bills. For households...