angelburst29
The Living Force
No cost-of-living adjustment - yet - housing, utilities, food and medical care have doubled and in some cases, tripled in cost.
No Social Security Increase Next Year, Gas Prices to Blame
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/social-security-increase-year-gas-prices-blame-34414214
For just the third time in 40 years, millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees can expect no increase in benefits next year, which is unwelcome news for more than one-fifth of the nation's population.
They can blame low gas prices. By law, the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation, which is being dragged down by lower prices at the pump.
The government is scheduled to announce the COLA — or lack of one — on Thursday, when it releases the Consumer Price Index for September. Inflation has been so low this year that economists say there is little chance the September numbers will produce a benefit increase for next year.
Prices actually have dropped from a year ago, according to the inflation measure used for the COLA.
"It's a very high probability that it will be zero," said economist Polina Vlasenko, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. "Other prices — other than energy — would have to jump. It would have to be a very sizable increase that would be visible, and I don't think that's happened."
Congress enacted automatic increases for Social Security beneficiaries in 1975, when inflation was high and there was a lot of pressure to regularly raise benefits. Since then, increases have averaged 4 percent a year.
Only twice before, in 2010 and 2011, have there been no increases.
In all, the COLA affects payments to more than 70 million Americans.
More bad news: The lack of a COLA means that older people could face higher health care costs.
Most have their Medicare Part B premiums for outpatient care deducted directly from their Social Security payments, and the annual cost-of-living increase is usually enough to cover any rise in premiums.
All beneficiaries would see their Part B annual deductible for outpatient care jump by $76, to an estimated $223. The deductible is the annual amount patients pay before Medicare kicks in.
"This would affect all beneficiaries," said Tricia Neuman of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "This kind of an increase is unprecedented."
No Social Security Increase Next Year, Gas Prices to Blame
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/social-security-increase-year-gas-prices-blame-34414214
For just the third time in 40 years, millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees can expect no increase in benefits next year, which is unwelcome news for more than one-fifth of the nation's population.
They can blame low gas prices. By law, the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation, which is being dragged down by lower prices at the pump.
The government is scheduled to announce the COLA — or lack of one — on Thursday, when it releases the Consumer Price Index for September. Inflation has been so low this year that economists say there is little chance the September numbers will produce a benefit increase for next year.
Prices actually have dropped from a year ago, according to the inflation measure used for the COLA.
"It's a very high probability that it will be zero," said economist Polina Vlasenko, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. "Other prices — other than energy — would have to jump. It would have to be a very sizable increase that would be visible, and I don't think that's happened."
Congress enacted automatic increases for Social Security beneficiaries in 1975, when inflation was high and there was a lot of pressure to regularly raise benefits. Since then, increases have averaged 4 percent a year.
Only twice before, in 2010 and 2011, have there been no increases.
In all, the COLA affects payments to more than 70 million Americans.
More bad news: The lack of a COLA means that older people could face higher health care costs.
Most have their Medicare Part B premiums for outpatient care deducted directly from their Social Security payments, and the annual cost-of-living increase is usually enough to cover any rise in premiums.
All beneficiaries would see their Part B annual deductible for outpatient care jump by $76, to an estimated $223. The deductible is the annual amount patients pay before Medicare kicks in.
"This would affect all beneficiaries," said Tricia Neuman of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "This kind of an increase is unprecedented."
