Federal Poverty Guidelines 2010

The Federal Poverty Guidelines 2010, also referred as the Federal Poverty Level for the year 2010, was issued by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. This was used as an important reference in granting various forms of federal aid programs for the year 2010. However, some changes were undertaken for the Federal Poverty Guidelines 2010 that you should know about.

1. The Federal Poverty Guidelines 2010 was used as an administrative measure. In order to be eligible for the grant of different federal aid programs, every applicant was assessed according to which poverty threshold they belonged with the Federal Poverty Guideline as reference. Thus, the main purpose of the guideline was primarily to determine the financial eligibility of every applicant as basis for the grant of their application to avail some forms of federal assistance.
2. The Federal Poverty Guidelines were issued every year. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the agency responsible for reporting in the Federal Register updated information on the poverty level in the United States. The report is issued every year in either January or February. The Federal Poverty Guideline is adjusted for families of different sizes and takes effect immediately upon its publication to the Federal Registry.
3. The governing law on the annual report on Federal Poverty Guidelines. Section 673 (2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 mandates the Health and Human Services secretary to make an updated report on the poverty level in the United States based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers. 
4. Legislation mandated some changes for the Federal Poverty Guidelines in 2010. Recently, legislation was passed that prohibited the publication of the Federal Poverty Guidelines 2010 earlier than May 31, 2010. The process used in updating the guidelines was also modified.