Receive updates on Social Security and Medicare by subscribing to our email alerts below.
The Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) is tied to an old inflation index
Our President & CEO, Max Richtman, told NPR’s Scott Horsely on “All Things Considered” that the current formula for calculating Social Security COLAs — the CPI-W — is flawed. If Social Security used the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, the 2024 COLA would have been at least 4% rather than 3.2%. For example, the CPI-W index overweights transportation costs, even though most retirees don’t drive as much as people who are commuting to work or taking kids to school. And at the same time, it underweights medical costs, even though that’s a major out-of-pocket expense for a lot of seniors.
Social Security is Not To Blame for Federal Debt
“In his article, The Debt Matters Again, German Lopez makes the classic error of conflating Social Security with the federal debt. Mr. Lopez claims that neither party is ‘willing to cut’ Social Security, but seniors’ hard-earned benefits should not be slashed in the name of debt reduction (or for any reason),” writes NCPSSM president Max Richtman in a letter to the editor of the New York Times. “Social Security is fully self-funded by American workers and does not contribute a penny to the debt.” Read more.