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Suspect held after woman set on fire in NY subway car dies; Trump threatens to take back Panama Canal over 'ridiculous' fees; A year of growth for juvenile diversion programs in SD; The ups and downs of combating rural grocery deserts in ND; Report: AZ one of eight Western states that could improve conservation policies.

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Congress passes a last-minute budget stopgap. Trump's second-term tariffs could harm farmers, and future budget cuts could reduce much-needed federal programs.

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Rural folks could soon be shut out of loans for natural disasters if Project 2025 has its way, Taos, New Mexico weighs options for its housing shortage, and the top states providing America's Christmas trees revealed.

Colorado's Medical Deduction Helps Put Food on Table

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Wednesday, December 27, 2017   

DENVER – Nearly one in five senior citizens in Colorado is turning a portion of his or her medical expenses into extra groceries.

Jack Regenbogen, an attorney and policy advocate with the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, points to new data that shows one year after the state rolled out a new standard medical expense deduction, close to 9,000 seniors who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have been able to put more food on the table.

"And it's increased their benefits from around between $7 to $8,” he says, “which may not sound like a lot at first, but what that really means is they'll have an extra day and a half or extra two days of groceries each month."

The deduction allows seniors and people with disabilities who pay out of pocket for health related expenses to offset those costs with additional SNAP dollars.

Regenbogen says increasing SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, by as little as $10 a month has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalization for seniors.

Regenbogen says making the deduction standardized has helped, since itemizing expenses, trying to get receipts and updating medical records was a complicated and tedious process. He notes that prescription drugs, dentures, hearing aids, prosthetics, transportation and lodging to get treatment are all counted as medical expenses in Colorado.

"And if these costs exceed $35 per month,” he says, “and there's a member in your household who has a disability or who's a senior citizen, then you should be claiming standard medical expense deduction in order to maximize your possible SNAP benefits."

Regenbogen says while the program is off to an encouraging start, even more Coloradans could get help stretching out their food budgets as counties become familiar with the new law.


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