Social Security Advocates Fight Against COLA Cut Proposals

Plenty of Social Security advocates are up in arms over news that the Obama administration is considering switching to a “chained” Consumer Price Index when making cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for Social Security beneficiaries, according to HuffingtonPost.com.

The consideration comes as lawmakers debate about which budget cuts to make to keep the United States from exceeding the federal debt limit, which is set to occur the first week of August.

As it stands, the Social Security Administration typically makes near-annual COLA adjustments.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics explains that the chained CPI formula would estimate a lower cost-of-living for Social Security beneficiaries because it takes recessions into account, figuring that Americans buy less during tough economic periods.

In a recent news release, Joan Entmacher, director of family economic security at the National Women’s Law Center, said, “The proposal to shift to the chained-CPI is actually a stealth attack on Social Security.”

Likewise, a report from the Economic Policy Institute asserts that the chained CPI formula would be inappropriate for calculating Social Security COLAs because the 65-and-older population typically spend three times as much on healthcare than the general population.

Read more.

Do you think the chained-CPI would be a fair way to look at cost-of-living for Social Security beneficiaries? Do you think Social Security should be taken out of the debt ceiling reduction discussion?

If you need help with your Social Security Disability benefits, contact the Social Security Disability lawyers at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin.