Last updated: September 17, 2026
Benefits writing is easy to get wrong and easy to fake. This page sets out exactly where our information comes from, so that any claim on this site can be checked rather than taken on trust.
The order we work in
For any question, we work down this list and stop at the highest level that answers it.
- Statute and regulation. The U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations — for example 7 CFR Part 273 for SNAP eligibility, or 20 CFR Part 404 and Part 416 for Social Security and SSI. Available at eCFR.gov.
- Agency policy manuals. SSA’s Program Operations Manual System (POMS) and HALLEX, CMS manuals, HUD handbooks, FNS policy memoranda. These are what caseworkers actually apply.
- Official program pages and notices. The annual SNAP cost-of-living adjustment memo, the HHS poverty guidelines notice in the Federal Register, the SSA COLA fact sheet, the CMS premium fact sheet, IRS revenue procedures.
- State plans and state agency pages, where a rule is set by the state rather than by Washington.
- Non-partisan analysis — the Congressional Research Service, the Government Accountability Office, the SSA Office of Retirement and Disability Policy — used for context and statistics, never as a substitute for the rule itself.
We do not build articles from other blogs, from social media, or from AI-generated summaries of any of the above.
The official sources we cite most
| Topic | Official source |
|---|---|
| SNAP | USDA Food and Nutrition Service |
| WIC | USDA FNS — WIC |
| Medicaid and CHIP | Medicaid.gov |
| Medicare | Medicare.gov and CMS |
| Marketplace coverage | HealthCare.gov |
| Social Security, SSI, SSDI | SSA.gov |
| Housing assistance | HUD.gov |
| Energy assistance (LIHEAP) | HHS Office of Community Services |
| TANF and child care | Administration for Children and Families |
| Tax credits | IRS.gov |
| Poverty guidelines | HHS ASPE |
| Finding any benefit | Benefits.gov and USA.gov |
How we handle numbers
Dollar figures in benefits writing go stale on a schedule. Our rules for handling them:
- Every figure is labeled with the period it applies to — “for fiscal year 2027, from October 1, 2026” rather than “currently”.
- Where a rule can be expressed as a percentage of the federal poverty level, we give the percentage as well as the dollars, because the percentage is what the regulation actually says and it does not change annually.
- Figures for the 48 contiguous states and DC are the default. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have separate schedules, and we say so rather than quietly using the mainland number.
- Every article carries a “last reviewed” date.
The update calendar
| When | What changes |
|---|---|
| October 1 | SNAP allotments, deductions, income limits and resource limits (new federal fiscal year) |
| October–November | Social Security COLA announced; Medicare premiums and deductibles published |
| January | HHS poverty guidelines; SSA and SSI amounts take effect; Medicare amounts take effect; new tax-year figures |
| Spring | HUD income limits and Fair Market Rents for the coming year |
| Any time | State plan changes, waivers, waiting list openings and closures |
We review affected articles against each of these dates. An article that has not been re-checked since the last change to its subject gets updated or marked.
What we will not publish
- A claim that someone is guaranteed to be approved, or a promise of a specific amount.
- “Secret”, “hidden” or “unclaimed” benefits. There are no secret programs; there are programs people have not heard of, which is a different thing and is what we write about.
- Anything that presents this site as official, or that could be mistaken for an agency communication.
- A payment date or amount sourced from social media rumor rather than an agency schedule.
Spotted something that breaks one of these rules? Tell us through the contact form and we will correct it. Our correction practice is in the Editorial Policy.