The verification script
One page to photograph and tape to the phone. What to say when a caller claims to be from Medicare or Social Security, and the one sentence that means hang up immediately.
New · Updated for the 2027 rules
The rules changed. Nobody told you.
A plain-language guide to what's happening to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food assistance, what hits on January 1, 2027, and the exact questions to bring to the person who can actually help you.
Instant download · Read on any device · Every fact sourced
Built from the public record
7
real, named people whose cases were documented by working journalists
60+
questions to ask your caseworker, counselor, or attorney, organized by who handles what
100%
of claims traced to a named source in the notes at the back
Drawing on reporting from the Associated Press, The New York Times, and ProPublica, alongside the Congressional Budget Office, CMS rulemaking, KFF, and federal court filings.
You did everything right and still lost coverage
Luke Seaborn was his state's poster case for its Medicaid work requirement. He appeared in the testimonial video. He logged his work hours every single month, exactly as required.
He lost his coverage twice anyway. Once over a form the state added without warning that asked for information he was already submitting. Once over a notice he says never arrived.
“I did what I was supposed to, but that wasn't good enough.”
Luke Seaborn, 54, as reported by ProPublica and The Current
Dee McDonald, 65, raising three grandsons in Mesa, filed her food assistance renewal in October. In December a caseworker told her to hang in there. In January she made a hundred calls and reached no one. In February she learned her case had closed over a wrong income form, and the state's own backlog had left her no time to fix it.
Neither of them became ineligible. Both of them lost benefits they were entitled to.
Here's the part almost nobody knows
When the Congressional Budget Office scored the savings from doubling Medicaid renewal frequency, it did not calculate them from people found ineligible.
It calculated them from modeled probabilities of people failing to complete paperwork in time, estimating that roughly 10% of the affected group would lose coverage after just the first six-month renewal.
That is published, public, official methodology. Which means the friction is not a glitch in the system. It was budgeted for.
And it means the paperwork is the policy. Your renewal dates, your proof of what you sent and when, your dated folder: in this system, those are not administrative chores. They are the whole game. This book is about how to play it.
What's inside
Ten chapters and five appendices. Each chapter opens with a real case, gives you the three things that matter most, and ends with the questions to ask and what to do this month.
- 1
The Big PictureLaw vs. agency rule vs. staffing, and why the difference decides what you can fight
- 2
Are You Affected?A short self-assessment that builds your reading list
- 3
Social SecurityGetting what you're owed when the office isn't there
- 4
Medicare Savings ProgramsThe money roughly half of eligible people never claim
- 5
Medicaid, Ages 50 to 64The 2027 work requirement, and the exemption fight in court right now
- 6
Long-Term CareNursing home vs. home care, waitlists, and coverage denials
- 7
Food, Heat, and HousingThe quiet cuts, and the state where rolls fell by half
- 8
ScamsWhy confusion is the business model, and the script that stops it
- 9
For Family CaregiversPower of attorney, representative payee, and not becoming the single point of failure
- 10
Staying CurrentWhat's still unsettled, and how to follow it without it taking over your life
The documentation system
Ten minutes to set up. It is the difference between “I think I sent that” and “I sent it March 3rd, certified, and here's the receipt.”
Who to ask, and what to ask
Every question in the book, collected and sorted by which professional actually handles that problem. Several of them are free and most people have never heard of them.
Source notes for every chapter
Named sources with dates, including where sources conflict and where I've given you both accounts instead of picking one.
This is for you if
- You're between 50 and 64 and on Medicaid, or might need it before 65
- You're on Medicare and have never checked whether you qualify for help with the premiums
- You or someone you love receives food, energy, or housing assistance
- You're helping a parent or spouse navigate any of this
- Long-term care is part of your picture now, or will be
- You got a letter you didn't understand and nobody picked up the phone
This is not for you if you want legal advice, a personalized benefits analysis, or someone to tell you what to do about your specific case. I can't do those things and I say so on page one. What I can do is make sure you walk into that appointment knowing exactly what to ask.
Get the book
The biggest changes land January 1, 2027. The useful time to read this is before then.
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Instant digital download
- Full book, 10 chapters and 5 appendices
- The verification script and documentation system
- Every question, sorted by who to ask
- Complete source notes
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Not ready yet?
Send yourself the chapter on Medicare Savings Programs, free. It's the one with money in it: roughly half the people who qualify for these programs never enroll, and the average is over $2,400 a year.
You'll also get a short note from me when something meaningful changes, which is a few times a year, not a few times a week.
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Questions people ask
Are my Social Security benefits being cut?
No. Your retirement benefit amount was not reduced by this law, and the book says so plainly. What's changed is access: how hard it is to reach a person when something goes wrong, and how much paperwork stands between you and coverage you already qualify for. That's a serious problem, but it's a different problem, and confusing the two makes people more frightened and less prepared.
Does the Medicaid work requirement apply to me if I'm on Medicare?
No. It applies to adults 19 to 64 in the Medicaid expansion group, starting January 1, 2027. If you're 65 or older and on Medicare, it doesn't apply to you. Anyone telling you otherwise is confused or running a scam, which Chapter 8 covers in detail.
Is this partisan?
It's sourced. Where the evidence supports a claim, I make it and show you where it came from. Where it doesn't, I say so explicitly, including one place where I tell you I went looking for evidence of intent and couldn't find it. Where officials and independent sources contradict each other, on Social Security office closures and VA staffing, I give you both accounts instead of picking. You're welcome to reach your own conclusions, and the source notes are there so you can.
I'm not good with computers. Can I still use this?
Yes. It's written in plain language with no jargon, and it includes specific guidance for people without reliable internet or a smartphone, because a real barrier right now is that agencies increasingly assume everyone has both. It comes as a PDF you can print, and the checklists and scripts are designed to be photocopied and carried into an appointment.
Will this be out of date soon?
Parts of it will, and Chapter 10 is entirely about that. Several rules in the book are being fought over in federal court right now, and the book tells you which ones and how to follow them. What won't go stale is the structure: renewal dates, proof of submission, and the right questions asked to the right person keep working no matter how the details shift.
Is this legal or financial advice?
No, and it's careful about that throughout. I'm not an attorney, a benefits counselor, or a licensed advisor. The book is designed to get you to the right professional with the right questions, not to replace them. Several of the people it points you toward are free, and most readers have never heard of them.
What if it isn't useful to me?
Reply to your receipt within 30 days and I'll refund it. No form, no explanation needed.