#benefit-access

#benefit-access

"Many times I find myself having to set aside other basic needs my children have in order to prioritize buying food," Garcia said in Spanish.

"There are people who have come here after escaping violence and persecution and torture. These are communities that we have historically said, 'You are welcome here. We have the support for you. We're going to help you get established in our country.' And now, the federal government is abandoning them."

Luna Rosado, a single mother, has seen her gas expenses rise by $40 weekly due to a 30 percent increase in prices after the war in Iran. This has resulted in $160 less for groceries and other necessities each month, forcing her to constantly adjust her budget.

The insights from this report help us think about potential gaps in the loss mitigation waterfall and the types of homeowners who may benefit from targeted support when they experience a crisis.

Many of the medicines on TrumpRx include brand-name drugs that patients can find cheaper elsewhere as generics. For instance, Protonix for heartburn is available for $200 on TrumpRx, but the generic version, pantoprazole, costs less than $30 with a GoodRx coupon.

"This argues for the need to sustain such policies and shows that it is possible to right the wrongs retroactively, which is a powerful idea," said Kenneth Michelson, MD, MPH, associate professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Emergency Medicine and a co-author of the study.

Congress has kept key drug assistance funding at $900.3 million annually since 2014. New enrollments for state programs jumped 30% from 2022 to 2024, in part because states cut off pandemic-era Medicaid assistance. As of January, at least 18 states have pulled back their Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, known as ADAPs, in some way.

EBT card theft is a huge, huge problem. In New York alone, in the first six months of last year, $14 million of SNAP benefits were stolen. We get these complaints all the time to our office.

The bulk of the money Missouri gives to its crisis pregnancy centers comes from federal funds meant to assist families experiencing poverty with basic necessities and child care, Republican Rep. Jason Smith said on the U.S. House floor in January. As many as $3 of every $4 for pregnancy centers in Missouri was from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in 2024, and in the 2026 fiscal year, it will be $2 out of $3.

Many buyers assume homeownership is out of reach if they earn less than the area's median income - but that's not always true. From FHA and USDA loans to down payment assistance programs, there are real pathways to homeownership - even if you have little savings.

Because of budget cuts, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has ended clinical services at seven of its public health clinic sites. As of Feb. 27, the county is no longer providing services such as vaccinations, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, or tuberculosis diagnosis and specialty TB care at the affected locations, according to county officials and a department fact sheet.

Cash transforms health when four particular conditions are met. Most U.S. cash-transfer pilots have lacked them. But one major American policy does come close: the federal food-assistance program SNAP. Its success offers a road map for what effective cash assistance can look like in this country, if we choose to build on it.

Pip is designed to support disabled people with the additional costs of daily living and mobility, yet for many claimants it has instead become a source of prolonged uncertainty, financial hardship and distress. Waiting months and in some cases more than a year for a decision can push people into debt, rent arrears and poverty, especially as Pip unlocks other support such as carer's allowance.

You cannot change the terms of the work requirement. It's a pretty easy no. Federal law holds that non-expansion states cannot adopt work requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Leo Cuello, an attorney and professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy, cites guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in making this determination.

States like Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Georgia saw the most significant dips. "People have less access to care, and that tends to translate into worse health outcomes," said Matthew Fiedler, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. He added that many households' financial security is at risk: "People will face big bills that they either can't pay, and that hurts their credit. Or they do pay, but it requires them to skimp in other areas."

In 2026, the US healthcare system is changing. Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies have expired, causing premiums for marketplace plans to spike - and pricing some families out of health insurance entirely. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce coverage for some patients with Medicaid and funding for hospitals, especially those in rural areas. Costs for Medicare and private insurance are also rising: Employer-based healthcare premiums have increased by 9%, the largest rise in more than a decade.