No 2010 COLA...

[Rustic23]

From this article, only about 1/4 of the Medicare recipients will be effected by no cola. e.g. their Medicare Part B payment will remain the same. However, the upper 1/4 are going to get hosed! I also appears the states will also.

http://www.kff.org/medicare/7912.cfm

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Well apparently Our Medicare cost will be going up..so it will be less on the bottom line...

We're Up about 3.6% here on staples/Utilities/Gas for cars etc.so far..this yr vs last..and of course Med. bills..for the same we had last yr..

Not much we can do about it either way..
Just eat More Oatmeal I guess..
Already down to a 4 cycl. Car and loaded up on More Insulation and Long Underwear..

;>)

I cant fathom how your gasoline bill would be higher this year. You driving more than normal?

 

[atlas888]

Just wondering if the esteemed members of the Congress are also not getting their COLA increase this year?

 

[ziggy29]

"Seniors may perceive that they are being hurt because there is no COLA, but they are in fact not getting hurt," said Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

Yep -- we all know that energy and health care and food costs are going down...

 

[Nords]

I always heard the COLA calculation described as based on the percentage increase in costs this year over last year calculated at end of August (e.g. 2009 against 2008). But if costs go down this year does the following year's COLA get calculated as the increase against this year's costs (i.e. 2010 against 2009) or at the higher 2008 base (2010 against 2008)?

Apparently that's a more difficult question than expected. Here's text from this week's MOAA update:

Last week, we officially threw in the towel on any prospect for a 2010 COLA for Social Security, military/federal retired pay, SBP, and VA disability compensation recipients.

With inflation 2.3% in the hole through the first 10 months of the fiscal year, inflation would have to rise more than 4.6% in the next two months (the COLA is based on the July/August/September average) for there to be a 2010 COLA, and that’s not going to happen.

But this is the first time the nearly 50-year history of COLAs that there’s been negative inflation for the full year, and that sent us back to research how the COLA law deals with that event.

We know there won’t be a cut in retired pay, Social Security, etc. There just won't be a COLA.

But how about 2011? Does the "COLA clock" reset at zero, or do we start the new fiscal year in the hole by whatever negative number the CPI represents at the end of September?

The short answer is that it's a cumulative calculation, and we will, in fact, start FY2010 in the "COLA hole."

The law says the COLA is calculated based on CPI growth from the third quarter average to the next year's third quarter average. However, it specifies that the starting point for the calculation is the third quarter of the year prior to "the most recent adjustment..." So if there's no COLA in 2010, then the starting point for the 2011 COLA calculation still remains the third quarter of 2008.

So inflation will have to rise at least a couple of percentage points during the next fiscal year before the 2011 COLA clock will even start.

 

[BLS53]

Amazing how much misinformation there is from callers on the various talk shows. "Congress decided to reduce SS this year" etc. I even heard one at a townhall healthcare meeting, saying "they've already slashed SS for next year, Medicare is next."

A little education on COLA is obviously needed. But people will believe what they want to believe.

 

[Independent]

Just wondering if the esteemed members of the Congress are also not getting their COLA increase this year?

At least one member of congress raises this issue every year. This year it's likely to get more press. I looked up a little history, this is what I found:

Effective Date | Congress $ | Congress % | SS COLA
1/1/2001 | 145,100 | -- | --
1/1/2002 | 150,000 | 3.4% | 1.4%
1/1/2003 | 154,700 | 3.1% | 2.1%
1/1/2004 | 158,100 | 2.2% | 2.7%
1/1/2005 | 162,100 | 2.5% | 4.1%
1/1/2006 | 165,200 | 1.9% | 3.3%
1/1/2007 | 165,200 | 0.0% | 2.3%
1/1/2008 | 169,300 | 2.5% | 5.8%
1/1/2009 | 174,000 | 2.8% | 0.0%

This assumes the currently scheduled 1/1/2009 numbers don't change. The big SS increase in 2008 is about equal to the combined Congressional increases for 2008 and 2009.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/97-1011.pdf

 

[Martha]

The issue for the elderly is that their expenses often are different from the country as a whole so even if there is no inflation as a whole, the elderly as a group may still experience inflation.

But they are not the only group that is suffering. Wages are stagnant too. People are being laid off and we are getting close to having large groups running out of unemployment benefits.

 

[ziggy29]

But they are not the only group that is suffering. Wages are stagnant too. People are being laid off and we are getting close to having large groups running out of unemployment benefits.

And these people are only buying the essentials that continues to increase in price, since they can't afford to buy much in the big-ticket discretionary segment of the market where the deflation is.

So it's a double whammy. They have the same (or less) income because of the so-called deflation, when their own cost of living (buying only essentials) is probably up by a nontrivial amount.

 

[Nords]

Here's another snippet of zero-COLA trivia:

If no COLA is paid to social security recipients, said Dan Moraski, spokesman for the Social Security Administration, the law would protect many of them from an increase in Medicare Part B premiums in January.
He said a "hold harmless" provision in the Medicare law would exempt about 75 percent from paying higher Part B premiums in any year in which Social Security pay is unchanged. The 25 percent not eligible for premium protection are individuals with modified adjusted gross incomes above $85,000 or couples with adjusted gross incomes of $170,000.

No Retiree COLA; Widows Win SBP Case

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I just bought .49 yogurt today. What a deal! Deflation on yogurt for sure.

 

[freebird5825]

Nothing voted on yet...but keep an eye on a recently proposed bill for a 2010 COLA fix...maybe, who knows what it may end up looking like.
Keywords to search on : The Social Security COLA Fix for 2010 Act (H.R. 3536)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:1:./temp/~c111NPnYSo::

Last week, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced legislation that, if passed, ensures retirees will receive a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) in 2010. Source: //www.myfederalretirement.com/public/487.cfm​

 

[ziggy29]

Nothing voted on yet...but keep an eye on a recently proposed bill for a 2010 COLA fix...maybe, who knows what it may end up looking like.

I don't suppose that will include interest on my I-bonds or TIPS, will it? Or make anyone give me a COLA?

Didn't think so.

 

[Texas Proud]

I don't suppose that will include interest on my I-bonds or TIPS, will it? Or make anyone give me a COLA?

Didn't think so.

Another one of these buying of votes...


One thing that I see.... 50 mill getting SS checks is over 16% of the population... and I am sure that is going up...



I think... for the good of the country... in these hard financial times.... we should cut that back to say.... 10%... so, the top 18 mill seniors.. expect to not get checks going forward... we have other people to send this money to....



JUST KIDDING!!!!

 

[freebird5825]

Last minute scramble...

Nothing voted on yet...but keep an eye on a recently proposed bill for a 2010 COLA fix...maybe, who knows what it may end up looking like.
Keywords to search on : The Social Security COLA Fix for 2010 Act (H.R. 3536)
Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)::

Last week, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) introduced legislation that, if passed, ensures retirees will receive a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) in 2010. Source: //www.myfederalretirement.com/public/487.cfm​

Most recent update on a possible $250 "emergency" check for certain groups. Nothing is final yet.
No political intent with this post, just information.
No COLA likely, but $250 check for some retirees - Federal news, government operations, agency management, pay & benefits - FederalTimes.com

 

[RonBoyd]

Today's headline:

No 2010 increase in Social Security

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Why stop at 250.

 

[ziggy29]

I didn't get a raise this year. Where's my $250?

 

[REWahoo]

I didn't get a raise this year. Where's my $250?

Patience, Grasshopper, patience...

 

[FinanceDude]

It was only a matter of time before a COLA increase was not going to happen. The govt is running out of money even as they print it as fast as they can.........

 

[W2R]

It seems to me that the median SS payment is roughly $1,000/month.

If $250 is given as a one time emergency assist, then if divided over 12 months that would given them $20.83/month extra.

$20.83/$1,000 = 2.1% increase.

So, really what this is, is a 2.1% increase that will be rescinded after one year. As someone who is presently 61 years old, this seems like quite a contortion and one that is not to my advantage.

 

[ziggy29]

So, really what this is, is a 2.1% increase that will be rescinded after one year. As someone who is presently 61 years old, this seems like quite a contortion and one that is not to my advantage.

All this is, really, is political damage control because of the so-called "SS benefit cut" because of zero COLA and higher Medicare premiums. I suspect the $250 is a one-time appeasement attempt to cover next year's increase in the Medicare premium.

 

[mickeyd]

$250 will buy a few senior citizen votes, no doubt.

 

[randyman65]

Somehow I find it difficult to work up any sympathy for no 2010 COLA. I haven't gotten a raise in two years, and if I did it would only be 3%. Last year, the federal COLA was 5.8% when most of the country was losing jobs and cutting salaries. We're experiencing it on a local level too, where public employee unions are pushing for retroactive 4% annual raises when people all around them are struggling.

I find giving away another $13 billion simply to cater to one specific demographic group to be somewhat abhorrent. It seems to have become an accepted practice to pander to those in retirement right now at the expense of those who will be expected to pay for it later. I also look at what might be the best utility for a $13 billion. rather than giving $250 to 5.2 million people, $13 billion would pay for two years of community college or trade school for 150,000 students, or go long in funding any number of projects that would provide employment.

While I agree that expected Medicare contributions have gone up, so have my health insurance premiums.

 

[FinanceDude]

The reason, according to the govt, is there is "no inflation".....ha-ha.good one!!