Annual Federal Poverty Guidelines Updated


The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last month issued its annual update of the federal poverty guidelines. Used as eligibility criteria in many federal programs, the updated guidelines reflect changes in last year’s Consumer Price Index. See Federal Register, Feb. 18, 2005, pp. 8373–75. Information on the federal poverty guidelines is available at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/05poverty.shtml.

The attached eligibility chart sets forth income guidelines for several public benefit programs based on the federal poverty guidelines. David Yen, an attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, prepared the chart.