Tag Archives for SSI

Modest Social Security COLA increase seen as chump change by some

Published in RINewsToday on October 16, 2023

Last week, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 71 million beneficiaries will increase 3.2% in 2024, about $59 per month starting in January. The 2024 payment declined from last year’s 8.7%, but that had been the highest in four decades. And, its higher than the average 2.6% increase recorded over the past 20 years.

The Social Security Act determined how the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is calculated. Enacted on August 14, 1935, the Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More than 66 million Social Security beneficiaries will see that COLA increase 3.2% beginning in January 2024, and increased payments to approximately 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 29, 2023. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits).  

“Social Security and SSI benefits will increase in 2024, and this will help millions of people keep up with expenses,” observes Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security in an Oct. 12 statement announcing this year’s COLA increase.

According to SSA, some other adjustments that will also take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $168,600 from $160,200.

Advocacy groups on aging talk turkey about COLA

“The annual COLA is a reminder of Social Security’s unique importance. Unlike private-sector pension plans, whose benefits erode over time, Social Security is designed to keep up with rising prices, noted Nancy Altman, President of the Washington, DC-based Social Security Works (SSW), in response to SSA’s COLA announcement.  

“Retirees can rest a little easier at night knowing they will soon receive an increase in their Social Security checks to help them keep up with rising prices,” said Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP chief executive. “We know older Americans are still feeling the sting when they buy groceries and gas, making every dollar important,” she added, stressing that Social Security has been the foundation for financial security for hundreds of millions of retirees. “SSA’s COLA announcement shows that it’s continuing to deliver on this promise,” she says.  

However, Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare charges, “While we are grateful that Social Security is the only major retirement program with a built-in cost-of-living adjustment, the current formula for determining COLAs is inherently flawed. SSA’s current COLA formula doesn’t truly reflect the increase in prices for the goods and services that beneficiaries rely on.”

According to Richtman, the 3.2% 2024 COLA only represents a modest $59 increase in the average monthly benefit for retired workers, and that’s before deducting the projected increase in the 2024 Medicare Part B premium of about $10 per month. Because of this the average retirement beneficiary will receive a net COLA of about $50. 

Richtman notes, “That is not enough for a tank of gas or half a week’s worth of groceries in many states. The net COLA will barely cover one brand-name prescription co-pay for some patients.”  

Last year, Richtman noted that the COLA of 8.7% was unusually high, the highest in some 40 years. But post-pandemic inflation was also at record highs, he said, noting that historically, COLA’s have been relatively low. In fact, the COLA has been ZERO; three times since 2009.  

“Seniors deserve an accurate COLA formula that accounts for the impact of inflation on their living costs. That is supposed to be the entire purpose of a COLA. The current formula measures the impact of inflation on urban wage earners and clerical workers. How is that a reasonable formula for seniors? Seniors have different spending patterns than urban wage earners & clerical workers,” asks Richtman.  

Richtman notes that seniors spend more than other age group on expenses like housing, long-term care, and medical services. “We strongly favor the adoption of the CPI-E (Consumer Price for the Elderly) for calculating COLAs. The CPI-E would more accurately reflect the impact of inflation on the goods and services seniors need, he believes. 

The CPI-E is included in both major pieces of legislation to expand and protect Social Security that have been introduced in this Congress: Bernie Sanders’ Social Security Expansion Act and Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act.  We have endorsed both of those bills as part of our commitment to boosting Social Security for current and future retirees. It’s past time for Congress to act,” says Richtman. 

Although the 3.2% COLA is well above the 2.6% average over the past 20 years, a newly released retirement survey released on Oct. 12, 2023, by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) indicates that seniors are pessimistic about their financial well-being in the upcoming months and very concerned about growing calls on Capitol Hill for Social Security cuts. Sixty-eight percent of survey participants report that their household expenses remain at least 10 percent higher than one year ago, although the overall inflation rate has slowed. This situation has persisted over the past 12 months.

According to TSCL’s latest retirement survey, worry that retirement income won’t be enough to cover the cost of essentials in the coming months is a top concern of 56 percent of survey respondents. Social Security benefit cuts are an even bigger concern, ranked as the number one worry by nearly 6 out of 10 survey participants, or 59%. Over the past year, benefit cuts and trims have affected a large percentage of older Americans low-income households, individuals who can least afford them.

A year ago, TSCL warned that higher incomes due to the 5.9% and 8.7% COLAs in 2022 and 2023 could potentially affect eligibility for low-income assistance programs such as SNAP and rental assistance. Earlier this year, federal emergency COVID assistance for SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid also ended. Surveys conducted in 2022 and this year suggest that significant numbers of lower-income older households have lost access to some safety net programs over the past 12 months, the survey finds.

A Final Note…

Social Security plans to start notifying beneficiaries about their new COLA amount by mail starting in early December. Individuals who have a personal “my Social Security account” can view their COLA notice online, which is secure, easy, and faster than receiving a letter in the mail. People can set up text or email alerts when there is a new message–such as their COLA notice—instead of waiting for them in my Social Security.

People will need to have a “my Social Security account” by November 14 to see their COLA notice online. To get started, visit www.ssa.gov/myaccount.

Information about Medicare changes for 2024 will be available at www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, their new 2024 benefit amount will be available in December through the mailed COLA notice and my Social Security’s Message Center.

For details about SSA’s 2024 Changes, go to: https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/colafacts2024.pdf.

Social Security must be key issue in 2024 Presidential Election

Published in RINewsToday on July 17, 2023

Last Wednesday, 178 House Democrats, (90% of the House Democratic caucus) led by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced  H.R. 4583, the “Social Security 2100 Act of 2023.” The 108-page bill would expand Social Security’s benefits, with no cuts, and keep the system fiscally strong for decades to come. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) has introduced the companion measure in the upper Chamber.

In May, to drum up support, enthusiasm, and attention for H.R. 4583, Larson, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member, was joined by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-,New York), Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D- Massachusetts) and other House leaders to announce the upcoming introduction of Social Security 2100.

“10,000 Baby Boomers a day become eligible for Social Security, making the point of acting now even more urgent, says Larson. “I am proud to be joined again by a majority of my Democratic colleagues to introduce Social Security 2100, and again, ask my Republican colleagues, whose legislation we’ve included, to join us in helping uplift the 65 million Americans who rely on it. Including lifting 5 million Americans out of poverty, providing 23 million a tax cut, and making sure that Americans are able to get the essential benefits that allow them to pay rent, buy groceries, and fill their prescriptions,” he says.

“It’s important that the Social Security benefits that working Rhode Islanders have earned keep up with the cost of living, and that’s exactly what H.R.4583 – Social Security 2100 Act will accomplish. Unfortunately, extreme Republicans in the House are trying to cut Social Security instead of strengthening it. But I am determined to fight for Rhode Island’s seniors in Congress to ensure they receive the benefits they’ve earned,” says Congressman Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), a sponsor of the legislative proposal. 

H.R. 4583: The Nuts and Bolts

On July 12, 2023, H.R. 4583 was introduced and referred to the House Ways and Means, Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce Committees, being introduced in the lower chamber that day.

According to a legislative fact sheet, H.R. 4583, the legislative proposal would increase and expand essential benefits to Social Security beneficiaries. Larson’s legislation would:

•   Increase benefits 2% across the board for all Social Security beneficiaries for the first time in 52 years.  

• Improve the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), so it reflects the inflation actually experienced by seniors.

• Increase benefits to boost lower income seniors.

• Improve benefits for middle-income widows and widowers from two-income households.

• Restore student benefits up to age 26, for the dependent children of disabled, deceased, or retired workers.

• Increase access to benefits for children living with grandparents or other relatives.

• Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) that currently penalize many public servants.

• End the 5-month waiting period to receive disability benefits.

• Increases benefits by an additional 5% for the most elderly and those who have been receiving disability benefits the longest, those beneficiaries who have been receiving benefits for 15 years or more.

 • Provide caregiver credits to ensure that people (mostly women) are not penalized in retirement for taking time out of the workforce to care for children or other dependents.

• End the disability benefit cliff, replacing it with a gradual offset for earnings.

• Cut taxes for 23 million middle-income beneficiaries.

• Correct an unintended flaw in how Social Security benefits are wage-indexed, to prevent benefits from dropping (a “notch”) if the wage index decreases.

• Ensure that these benefits do not result in reduced Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments or a loss of eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP.

• Combine the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds into one fund to ensure seamless benefit payments.

• Provide the Social Security Administration with resources to improve customer service.

Social Security 2100 Pays for These Benefits by:

• Ensuring millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share by applying FICA to earnings above $400,000.

H.R. 4583 would pay for strengthening the Social Security Trust Fund and pay for the enhanced benefits by having millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share by applying FICA to earnings above $400,000, with those extra earnings counted toward benefits at a reduced rate. The bill closes the loophole of avoiding FICA taxes and receiving a lower rate on investment income by adding an additional 12.4% net investment income tax (NIIT) only for taxpayers making over $400,000.

Social Security advocates call for passage

“By re-introducing his revised Social Security 2100 Act, Congressman John Larson once again defies the media narrative that ‘no one in Washington has the courage’ to address the program’s future,” says Max Richtman, President and CEO, of the Washington, DC-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, noting that the legislation extends the solvency of the Social Security trust fund for decades while also providing American seniors with an expansion of benefits.  Larson tackles the funding of the expansion of benefits by asking high earners to begin paying their fair share into the program, says Richtman. 

“At a time when House Republicans have proposed cutting benefits by raising the retirement age and other means — Congressman Larson offers a commonsense, fair, and forward-looking plan.

Not only is the Social Security 2100 Act wise policy, but it’s also overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum,” says Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works and Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition.

As the debate over Social Security heats up before the 2024 Presidential election, Altman charges that the nation’s media  refuses to “take Democratic plans to protect and expand Social Security seriously, and fails to call out Republicans for their unwillingness to state what they are for, not just what they are against.”

“Reporters are implicitly dismissing these bills because they cannot pass the House and Senate without Republican support. Instead of pressuring Congressional Republicans to introduce their own legislation, the mainstream media provides the Republicans with the cover they seek by claiming that both parties are avoiding action on Social Security” says Altman.

According to Altman, earlier this year President Joe Biden used the presidential bully pulpit at the State of the Union address to call out Republicans for their plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, forcing them to take these program cuts off the table during the debt ceiling negotiations. “If Biden champions a plan that expands benefits with no cuts, while requiring those earning over $400,000 to pay more, the mainstream media will be unable to ignore it,” predicts Altman. 

Congressional strategies regarding Social Security

On the same day that Larson introduced his legislation, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, held a hearing, “Protecting Social Security for All: Making the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share,”  on his legislation, S. 1174, the Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act.  A companion measure was introduced in the House by Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (D-Pennsylvania), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee.

At the July 12th Senate Budget Committee hearing, Whitehouse explained that his legislation would bring enough revenue from the wealthiest to ensure that Social Security benefits will be paid and on time for the next 75 years and beyond.

“Right now, the cap on Social Security contributions means a tech exec making $1 million effectively stops paying into the program at the end of February, while a schoolteacher making far less contributes through every single paycheck all year,” says Whitehouse at the hearing. “That’s not fair, and my Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would fix that by requiring contributions to Social Security on wages above $400,000,” said the Rhode Island Senator.  

Whitehouse stressed the importance of Social Security to his Rhode Island constituents, by mentioning their comments and thoughts. 

 “I rely on my Social Security as my only source of income.  I would find it impossible to continue to live independently if Social Security were changed, reduced or eliminated.  Social Security benefits were a contract between the federal government and its citizens,” said Robert of Pawtucket.

Another Rhode Islander, Antonella of North Providence, said: “I would be very sad and depressed if there were any cuts to Social Security.  I just get by as it is.” And Laurel of Pawtucket said that without Social Security, she “would have to go back to work and probably have to work until I die.” 

Earlier this Congress, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced their own bill, S. 393, the Social Security Expansion Act (Whitehouse is an original cosponsor).   The Sanders-Warren bill would expand benefits by $ 2,400 each year while fully funding the program for the next three-quarters of a century and beyond.

As to the GOP position on Social Security, the House Republican Study Committee released a plan to cut Social Security by $718 billion over 10 years.  This plan, endorsed by three-fourths of the  House GOP Caucus), would also raise the retirement age to 69 (for everyone who is currently 59 and younger), which would effectively cut benefits by an estimated 13 percent every year and especially harm low-income workers.  It would also reduce benefits for future beneficiaries who earned a “higher salary” before retirement. Also, only “modest adjustments” to the Social Security program as it operates would be made but it doesn’t clarify the changes.

It is important to note that three fourths of the House GOP caucus endorse the RSC budget, making cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

According to SSW’s Altman, while Democratic proposals (Larson, Whitehouse and the Sanders- Warren proposals) to expand Social Security and Medicare are popular with Democratic, Republican and independent voters, Republican politicians have chosen to not co-sponsor any of these bills.

My final thoughts…

Polls show that Social Security and Medicare, two of the nation’s largest social safety net programs, are extremely popular. According to a poll released in March 2023 by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs research, 79% of Americans are opposed to reducing the benefits that Social Security beneficiaries receive.  As to raising Social Security’s eligibility age from 67 to 70, 75% of American’s were against it.

Another poll released last March found that nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they oppose reducing spending on Social Security or Medicare, according to polling from Axios.  

The Congressional debate on financially shoring up Social Security and expanding benefits is of   extreme interest to 66 million older and disabled people (175,840 beneficiaries in Rhode Island), who rely on monthly payments from the program.  But the Social Security debate must include America’s younger generations, too. 

With 477 days left before the 2024 presidential elections, expanding Social Security and making the program fiscally sound and to ultimately be available to Gen Exers (1965 to 1979), Millennials (1980 to 1994), Gen Z (1995-2012) and Gen Alpha (2013 to 2025) must become a key election issue. Social Security beneficiaries and America’s younger generations must call on Congress to expand Social Security benefits and ensure its fiscal viability for every generation.  “Keep Your Hands Off Social Security” must be the powerful message they send to all presidential and congressional candidates before the upcoming 2024 presidential election.     

To review the text of Larson’s H.R. 4583, “Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust Act,” go to https://larson.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/larson.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-2023.07.11-text-of-social-security-2100-act.pdf.

To watch a video of Larson’s May press conference announcing the upcoming introduction of H.R. 4583, the Social Security 2100, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8QYRRQ-UQ.

Here is a copy of RSC’s FY 2024 Budget, Protecting America’s Economic Security https://hern.house.gov/uploadedfiles/202306141135_fy24_rsc_budget_print_final_c.pdf.

Social Security has new, easier to use website

Published in RINewsToday on January 30, 2023

Over a month ago, the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) launched a redesigned website to assist beneficiaries to find what they need more easily. New pages and improvements based on public feedback will continue to be unveiled in the coming months. You may have already received an email to check out your new personal account page, though not everyone has yet.

“SSA.gov is visited by over 180 million people per year and it is one of our most important tools for providing efficient and equitable access to service,” said Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, in a December. 6, 2022 statement announcing this redesign. “Whether providing service in person or online, our goal is to help people understand what they may qualify for and seamlessly transition them to an application process.” Improved self-service capability allows people to skip calling or visiting an office, which helps Social Security staff focus on those visitors who need in-person assistance,” she says.

Kijakazi noted that the redesign will make it easier to do business with the federal agency. “Its redesign is intended to provide a clear path to the tasks customers need to accomplish,” she said, noting that many of the most visited sections of SSA.gov are now live with a more user-friendly and task-based approach.

According to SSA, visitors to SSA.gov can use interactive tools to check eligibility for benefits.  The screener is a convenient and simple way for people to learn if they might be eligible for benefits.

Beneficiaries can also save time on Social Security Number (SSN) and card online services, too.  If a beneficiary loses their SSN card, they may not need a replacement. In most cases, simply knowing their SSN is enough. If a person does need a replacement card, they may be able to request a replacement online by visiting www.ssa.gov/ssnumber.

Individuals can also start an application for an updated card or request an SSN for the first time. People may never need to visit an office and, if they do need to visit an office to complete the application, they will save a lot of time by starting online.

People can also apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits on line by starting an application and requesting an appointment to apply for SSI benefits by just answering a few questions at www.ssa.gov/benefits/ssi/.

Finally, for most benefits, people can apply online or start an application online. In many cases, there are no forms to sign. The agency will review the application and reach out with questions or for more information. Visit www.ssa.gov/onlineservices to apply for retirement, disability, or Medicare.

Many Social Security services do not require the public to take time to visit an office. Using a my Social Security account, a personalized online service, people can start or change direct deposit, or request a replacement SSA-1099. For individuals already receiving Social Security benefits, they can print or download a current Benefit Verification Letter if they need proof of their benefits.

People not yet receiving benefits can use their online account to get a personalized Social Security Statement, which provides their earnings information as well as estimates of their future benefits. The portal also includes a retirement calculator and links to information about other online services. SSA encourages people without a my Social Security account to create one today at www.ssa.gov/myaccount/. This part of the site is operational 5am to 1am, Monday through Friday – 5am to 11pm on Saturday – 8am to 11:30pm on Sunday.

One thing pandemic times have done is make us more proficient in the computer and using online services, and those who run official sites have focused on making them simpler, and easier to use.