Many people celebrate when Social Security announces the COLA increases for the next year. However, it seems that these increases, although initially created to help seniors with inflating costs of daily life, are more likely to be consumed by skyrocketing healthcare costs.
Medicare Costs And COLA
For beneficiaries, as Oli Povey at AS.com writes, Medicare Part B premiums are deducted from monthly payments, decreasing the amount an individual is paid. Unfortunately, these costs have been increasing at a rate that surpasses any COLA increase seen.
According to this article, Social Security benefits have seen an average increase of 2.2% from 2000 to 2020. However, this increase was outmatched by Medicare Part B premiums; Medicare premiums were seen to increase 5.9% over the same amount of time.
This is a significant difference. Plus, with the increasing inflation, we are currently seeing, it is reasonable to believe that any COLA increase provided will be swallowed up by Medicare premiums increasing as well.
2022 COLA Estimates
Over the past three months, the CPI-W (a factor in calculating COLA) has had significant increases. And although the official COLA will not be granted until October, these increases suggest a large increase for beneficiaries.
In fact, inflation has created estimates of record COLA increases. Estimates of at least a 5.8% increase for beneficiaries have been circulating. If correct, the 2022 COLA could be the highest raise given to seniors since 1983.
Unfortunately, any increase provided may not be enough for senior citizens. That is why Senior Security Alliance is standing up for our seniors. Our organization seeks to help seniors achieve a more financially secure future. To do this, we are working to pass a groundbreaking bill.
This bill, The Senior Citizens Bill of Rights, provides seven guarantees. One of these guarantees helps to ensure COLA calculations include the ever-increasing costs of healthcare. This urgent addition to the COLA calculations will help seniors nationwide, giving back some of the buying power that has degraded over the years.
To learn how you can help ensure seniors receive more financial security, check out our page.
