The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) mandates that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) update the federal poverty guidelines annually. These updates, based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, are crucial for determining eligibility for various state and federal programs, including Medicaid and others.

On January 15th, 2025, HSS released the updated poverty guidelines for 2025. The public can access these guidelines online at: https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty. As in previous years, they derived the 2025 guidelines by adjusting the most recent poverty thresholds published by the U.S. Census Bureau for price changes up to the most recent completed year.

The National Training and Data Center (NTDC) uses these updated guidelines to help Community Work Incentive Coordinators understand key programs, such as the Medicare Savings Programs (MSP) and Low-Income Subsidy (LIS). In addition, various states utilize the federal poverty guidelines to determine eligibility for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

As Technical Liaisons, it is essential for us to stay informed about these updates and integrate them into our resources, trainings, and technical assistance.

To assist with this, NTDC has developed a helpful resource 2025 Federal Poverty Guidelines with Percentages document that provides the 2025 poverty guidelines for different family sizes, ranging from one to eight members. This document is particularly useful for understanding the MSP and LIS percentages. 

For additional resources, please visit our VCU NTDC TA Liaison webpage at https://vcu-ntdc.org/aboutus/liaisons.cfm.