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Social Security COLA Set at 1.3 Percent for 2021

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on Oct. 13 that its annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be 1.3 percent, an average boost to retirement benefits of about $20 per month for individuals starting in January. (Read article here...)

 

Do you feel that your Social Security benefits are keeping up with inflation?

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No and I see just in the generic grocery items I buy a increase of 10 to 20+ percent, some name brand items that I purchase have gone up more than 20% so I stopped buying only to see the price go back down as I take it many others did the same with they're purchases. 

The big increase and problem is with my barber that I have been using for 2 decades as the shop price has gone up well over 25% and the last time I went I heard the 'T' word way too many times.

The challenge today is learning to cut my own hair.

 

 

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Whether the 1.3% COLA proves to be adequate depends upon the actions of the new administration and Congress making progress with relief from the high cost of prescription medications. People receiving Social Security payments are more likely to depend on prescription medications and if our leaders are unable or unwilling to address the rise in cost of these drugs then, NO, the 1.3% boost to SS checks will not be sufficient to keep many recipients from having less spendable income. 

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No.

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No, I do not think so especially since the benefit barely covers the increase in the monthly deduction for Medicare Part B.

 

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@cv4770 wrote:

No, I do not think so especially since the benefit barely covers the increase in the monthly deduction for Medicare Part B.

 


The easiest solution to that is to drop your part B. I did after having gone through 3 doctors which in my opinion were all quacks and I got fed up with the last one for trying to get me started on the 'Pill Regimen', I felt very uncomfortable with that diagnosis and pitched the pills in the trash got retested on my own and I'm still kicking just fine 5 years later.

 

I won't sign up again until I move to a area that I feel comfortable with the Medical Community. FYI I worked in a Hospital that payed a 100 Million dollar fine for Medicare fraud so I may be jaded.

 

 

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"Don't worry about the oil running out, worry about the food running out"
Professor Al Bartlett PhD (emeritus 1923-2013)
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@bw3491 wrote:


The easiest solution to that is to drop your part B. I did after having gone through 3 doctors which in my opinion were all quacks and I got fed up with the last one for trying to get me started on the 'Pill Regimen', I felt very uncomfortable with that diagnosis and pitched the pills in the trash got retested on my own and I'm still kicking just fine 5 years later.

 

I won't sign up again until I move to a area that I feel comfortable with the Medical Community. FYI I worked in a Hospital that payed a 100 Million dollar fine for Medicare fraud so I may be jaded.

 

 

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IF and when you decide to Re-UP Medicare Part B - you are gonna have a HEFTY premium penalty to pay, in addition to the (whatever at that time) regular premium.

If you are really low income Medicare has some Extra Help programs.

EDITED TO ADD:  SEE MY POST TO YOU ON THE THREAD YOU STARTED TODAY entitled Re: SSI Eligible Letter from SSA in Wilkes Barre PA PO Box 

I believe there is a connection with these EXTRA HELP Programs and the letter you received.

Medicare.gov - Part B late enrollment penalty 

 

Medicare.gov - Get Help With Your Medicare Cost 

 

Part B (Supplemental Medical Insurance or SMI) is an Insurance program that is shared by all Medicare Beneficiaries - There is NO Trust Fund for Part B - There is NO Medicare payroll deduction during working years to pay for Part B.  Beneficiaries pay 25% of the cost of Part B; higher income Medicare Beneficiaries pay more.  The Government picks up the other 75% of the program - that is normally how it works.  Because of the Pandemic and the cost of Part B - the Government is picking up a bit more and beneficiaries a bit less.

 

Insurance, no matter what type, is a shared and sharing type program - you don't just pay premiums for yourself but also for the risk and the premium payments that you share with all other beneficiaries.

 

So IF you even need that Medicare Part B (and Part D cause it works about the same way), then get ready to pay a HEFTY premium including the premium penalty for not having this coverage all these years.

 

Part A for most people is premium free cause that is what all those payroll deductions were for during our working years - PART A or Hospital Insurance (HI) -

 

Just FYI -

It's Always Something . . . . Roseanna Roseannadanna
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@cv4770 wrote:

No, I do not think so especially since the benefit barely covers the increase in the monthly deduction for Medicare Part B.

 


And that's even after Congress and The President signed a limit to the Medicare Part B Premiums - without this intervention - Beneficiary Part B Premiums would have take ALL of the 2021 COLA amount.  By law, the premiums cannot be any more than that increase.

Read the link that @AARPLynne posted in her intro to this thread OR this one:

AARP 11/06/2020 - Medicare Premiums, Deductibles Will Increase Slightly in 2021 

from the link -

The $3.90 monthly Part B premium increase is less than had been expected earlier this year, when analyses by CMS actuaries indicated that the 2021 Part B premium could increase by as much as $50 a month for some beneficiaries.

 

Such a large Part B premium increase was projected because of the increased emergency Medicare spending resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the health care costs to treat the coronavirus, the federal government also paid doctors and other Part B providers to offset the money they lost because many Medicare enrollees are postponing some routine and preventive care during the crisis.

To offset this emergency spending and avoid a large premium increase, a clause added money to Medicare to help offset that spending.

It's Always Something . . . . Roseanna Roseannadanna
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NO, HELL NO !

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@AARPLynne wrote:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on Oct. 13 that its annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be 1.3 percent, an average boost to retirement benefits of about $20 per month for individuals starting in January. (More...)

 

Do you feel that your Social Security benefits are keeping up with inflation?


Course, we don't know how much those Medicare Part B premiums might take away from that 1.3% bounty - we might be lucky just to net a few bucks.

 

As far as keeping up with inflation - the CPI-W is as good as any.  Of course, everybody could always use MORE money - even if it is just a buck or two.  But until our legislators fix the Social Security system for the long term, getting that additional buck or two from using another index like the CPI-E, would only create insolvency of the SS system sooner.

 

Since most seniors are more affected by Medicare Part B cost and the monthly premiums which are assessed on this part of Medicare, I think we would save more by keeping this type of Medical cost as low as possible.  But alas, we want, what we want, when we want it and we don't case who has to pay.

 

We did get that $ 1200 Covid-19 stimulus earlier this year even though for most (SS) retired seniors, we didn't actually lose any money or a job.  And most of us are no longer supporting a whole family.

 

 

 

It's Always Something . . . . Roseanna Roseannadanna
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I might also add that the short-term government spending bill which pass at the end of Sept. 2020 is imposing a cap on what Medicare Part B premiums are gonna be. 

CNBC 09/29/2020 - Congress caps Medicare Part B premium spike for 2021 

 

 

  • Estimates for the 2021 Part B premium, which adjusts each year, have been tricky due to the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on health care services.
  • A provision to limit a possible premium increase to 25% of what it would be otherwise is included in a short-term budget bill that funds the government through Dec. 11.

Read more at the link ~

 

 

That is in addition to the Hold Harmless rule on Part B premiums which limits them to be no greater than the COLA we receive because Social Security dollar amounts cannot go down from one year to the next because of Part B premiums (That, in a nutshell, is the Hold Harmless rule).

 

Course, we still don't know what they will be for 2021 - all eyes are on government.

It's Always Something . . . . Roseanna Roseannadanna
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