A study by the Senior Citizens League found that Social Security benefits have lost about 22 percent of their buying power since 2000, despite the benefit increases due to the COLA.
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Benefits: The lack of a benefit increase means that many older people could face higher Medicare costs, an issue that has advocates lobbying Congress, according to AP reports. “For example, since seniors spend more on health care than younger people, the CPI-E uses those cost increases more to determine what COLA is appropriate”. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday morning that prices during this years third quarter actually were lower than the comparable 2014 quarter.
“They really don’t do that much in terms of gas prices because they’re pretty much spending money on health care”.
“(My cost of living), it’s not going down.
Medicare actuaries predicted in July that the standard premium for those beneficiaries would rise next year to $159 per month, from just under $105 per month for most beneficiaries, the same as in 2013 and 2014. Should there be an increase in the Medicare Part B premium, the law contains a “hold harmless” provision that protects approximately 70 percent of Social Security beneficiaries from paying a higher Part B premium, in order to avoid reducing their net Social Security benefit.
The bill would extend the “hold harmless” provision to 100 percent of Medicare recipients.
A million or so more people who receive Medicare but have either deferred receiving Social Security or aren’t yet eligible would also be hit with the higher premiums, as would another 2.8 million individuals who are new to Medicare in 2016. But because there is no COLA, it will remain at $118,500 next year.
As a result of the 0% COLA, a few high-income retirees could see their monthly benefits decline because of rising Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments each month.
The government says there will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees.
The group asked the U.S. Congress to “reduce and mitigate the impact of the sudden, sharp increases in the Part B premium and deductible as soon as possible”. “With 64 percent of older Americans depending on Social Security for over half of their income, going without a COLA is a loss of income that most beneficiaries simply can’t be expected to bear”, Cates says.
However, Medicare is required to recover roughly 25% of Part B expenses for covered doctor, outpatient and medical equipment expenses through Part B premiums.
There will no automatic cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries in 2016, the Social Security Administration said.
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The law is in place to make sure people don’t see a net decrease in their Social Security checks year after year, said Anqi Chen, a researcher at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
