Published in RINewsToday on October 12, 2026
In just a few days, nearly 279,000 Rhode Islanders who rely on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will learn how much their monthly checks will increase in 2027 when the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces next year’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Social Security recipients will see the increase in January, while SSI recipients will receive their adjusted payments on Dec. 31, 2026, because New Year’s Day is a federal holiday. The additional income will help them keep pace with rising costs.
Older Rhode Island beneficiaries will be joining 75 million Americans—including roughly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries and between 7.3 and 7.5 million SSI recipients—awaiting this highly anticipated news.
SSA is expected to announce the official 2027 COLA on Wednesday, Oct. 14, following the release of September inflation data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the Virginia-based The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), the SSA’s COLA for 2026 was 2.8 percent, somewhat higher than the 2.5 percent COLA implemented at the start of 2025. TSCL predicts that the COLA for 2027 will tick up to 3.5 percent. AARP experts project an even higher COLA increase for 2027 than TSCL estimates, at 3.6 percent.
Congress enacted the COLA provision as part of the 1972 Social Security Amendments, and automatic annual COLAs began in 1975, says SSA, noting that before then Congress could only increase this benefit through special legislation. The new provision tied COLAs to the annual increase of the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W).
SSA calculates the COLA by comparing the average CPI-W for July, August and September with the average for the same three months of the previous year. The percentage is rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent and determines the annual adjustment.
With the 3.5 percent projection, the average beneficiary’s monthly benefit increases by $67.90. The current average beneficiary receives $1,940.08 in their monthly Social Security check. With a 3.5 percent COLA, that would rise to $ 2,007.98, estimates TSCL
If TSCL’s calculation holds, the 2027 COLA would land right in the middle of the ranking historically—ranking 19th among all COLA adjustments since the federal government started using its current inflation math in 1977. By comparison, the recent boost seniors received at the start of 2026 was a bit more modest, tying for 27th place.
“The biggest thing we’re watching with the COLA announcement coming are short-term shocks to the economy that push inflation way up or down in the next 30 days. Of the three CPI-W figures used to calculate the COLA, two are already in,” said TSCL Executive Director Shannon G. Benton in a statement releasing the 2027 estimated projections.
“No matter if the COLA announcement comes in slightly higher or slightly lower than our prediction, seniors will probably end up disappointed in the long run,” said Benton, noting that older Americans allocate their budgets differently than people still in the workforce, so inflation hits them differently. The consumer price index (CPI) captures the experience of urban wage earners, which doesn’t represent the average senior’s budget, she adds.
“The COLA only happening once a year puts life on hold for a lot of seniors. When prices rise, they don’t rise next January when your benefit check goes up. They rise right now. We need to consider COLAs that compound quarterly or monthly so seniors can keep up throughout the year when inflation comes in above Federal Reserve targets, like in 2026,” adds Benton.
Advocates Push for CPI-E Index
In a recent AARP Sept. 11 blog post, “Social Security COLA 2027: An Early Look at How Much Payments Could Increase,” writer Deirdre Shesgreen interviewed Rich Johnson, the vice president for financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute. Johnson emphasized that the organization’s COLA forecast is meant to give older adults a head start on managing their 2027 finances. “Family budgets have been under increasing pressure because of rising prices,” Johnson noted. “The sooner that we can give them reliable information as to how much their benefits might [increase next year], the sooner they can start planning,” he said.
“Most seniors depend on Social Security for some or all of their income, and the program’s annual Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) for inflation help keep them from falling behind,” says Max Richtman, President & CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, noting that even the estimated 3.5-3.6% increase will barely be enough for seniors to tread water.
“That’s because the COLA is based on an inflation index that does not account for the impact of inflation on seniors’ true expenses, especially health care costs – which are rising faster than the general inflation rate,” said Richtman, calling for the adoption of the CPI-E (Consumer Price Index for the Elderly). This CPI index is designed to better reflect older American’s spending patterns.
“What we know is that when the COLA is announced, it will be far too low to make up for the crushing prices everybody is facing right now. But seniors and those on fixed incomes are being crushed the hardest,” said Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works.
His concerns come as Census Bureau figures show that the poverty rate among Americans aged 65 and older rose from 9.4 percent in 2020 to 15.4 percent in 2025, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for medical expenses and other living costs.
“And still Republican proposals, when we see them, include provisions to cut back on the COLA, which is just a cruel benefit cut. We need to expand Social Security, increase benefits, raise the COLA, and pay for it by having billionaires pay the same rate on all of their income into Social Security. Just like the rest of us do,” argued Lawson.
Improving SSA’s Benefit Calculation Formula
TSCL advocates for the Social Security 2100 Act, legislation championed by Congressman John Larson (D-Connecticut), first introduced in 2017 and reintroduced in 2026.
Lawmakers reintroduced this legislative proposal to provide long-term relief to seniors losing buying power due to high inflation. The bill would raise benefits by 2%, set the new minimum benefit to 125% of the Federal poverty line, change the COLA calculation to the CPI for the Elderly (CPI-E), and improve the benefits calculation formula, said TSCL.
“Although the Social Security 2100 Act is unlikely to pass in the current Congress, it should. The bill is the gold standard for Social Security reform and accomplishes the majority of changes older Americans want to see in the program,” says TSCL’s Benton in a statement released on July 14. “The reality is that poverty is increasing rapidly among American seniors, who make up the fastest-growing portion of the homeless population. Adjusting the minimum benefit to above the Federal poverty line would almost certainly slow this trend, although more holistic efforts may be required to stop it entirely,” she says.
