The financial news that actually matters
Roughly two-thirds of older adults will need long-term services and supports over their lifetimes, yet the federal program most of them count on, Medicare, excludes nearly all of that care by law. The gap between expectation and reality forces millions of families into difficult financial choices each year, and as the 75-plus population grows, state…
More than 380 people put money into a crypto-mining operation that claimed it would generate returns through digital-asset mining packages. The Securities and Exchange Commission now says the firm behind those promises, Bright Vision Distribution LLC doing business as Mining Automatic, funneled only about 13 percent of the roughly $22 million it collected toward anything…
Older adults shopping for ACA Marketplace coverage in 2026 face a pricing gap baked directly into federal law: a 64-year-old can be charged three times the premium a 21-year-old pays for the identical health plan. That ratio, set by statute and carried forward in the 2026 benefit year rules published by the Centers for Medicare…
Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth who had been shielded from strict food-stamp work requirements now face the loss of those protections. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed as H.R. 1 in the 119th Congress, reversed exemptions that Congress itself had created just two years earlier in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of…
More than a million Americans in their late 50s and early 60s face the loss of food assistance under a federal law signed on July 4, 2025. Public Law 119-21, the fiscal year 2025 reconciliation measure, extends SNAP work requirements to nondisabled adults up to age 64, eliminating the age-based exemption that had previously shielded…
Medicare beneficiaries who enroll in a $0-premium Medicare Advantage plan for 2026 could still face thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs if they are hospitalized or need specialist care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published its official CY 2026 maximum out-of-pocket and cost-sharing limit calculations, setting the ceiling that plans can…
Workers who spent decades earning a company pension can lose a share of that promised income when their employer’s plan fails. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that steps in as insurer, pays benefits only up to caps set by federal law. Those caps shift each year and drop sharply for anyone who…
The Social Security Administration is pushing to cut in-person field office visits roughly in half during fiscal year 2026, redirecting retirees and beneficiaries toward phone lines and online portals. The agency reported a large increase in online transactions for fiscal year 2026 year-to-date, alongside reductions in both field office wait times and phone answer times….
Medicare beneficiaries who need more than one hospital stay in 2026 could owe $1,736 each time they are admitted, with no annual cap on how many times that charge applies. The per-benefit-period deductible, set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the coming year, covers a patient’s share of the first 60 days…
Retirees set to receive a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment in January 2026 could see a far larger boost to their monthly checks if a Senate bill gains traction. The Social Security Expansion Act, filed as S.770 in the 119th Congress, proposes an across-the-board benefit increase that would exceed the standard annual inflation adjustment. With the…