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2025: Social Security benefits up 2.5 percent

Written by

Alex Lawson

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Big news: The Social Security Administration just announced that the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits will be 2.5%. That means that people receiving Social Security benefits will get slightly larger checks next year.

If it were up to Republicans, Social Security benefits wouldn’t keep up with rising prices. If it were up to Republicans, seniors would have an even harder time getting by.

Here are the facts:
The automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment is one of Social Security’s most essential features. It is intended to ensure that benefits do not erode over time. However, the formula currently used to calculate annual COLAs under-measures the expenses that Social Security beneficiaries face.

Seniors spend a greater proportion of their income on medical expenses―and the Social Security COLA should reflect that. Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would update the COLA formula (among other improvements to Social Security) to reflect the real cost of living for seniors and people with disabilities.

When Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris served in the Senate, she co-sponsored one of those bills. So did vice presidential nominee Tim Walz when he served in the House.

Republicans have a different perspective. The Republican Study Committee (which comprises over 80% of House Republicans) proposes annual budgets that include Social Security cuts.

The RSC budget explicitly calls the current COLA formula too generous. They think seniors deserve less.

In fact, page 104 of the Fiscal Year 2025 Republican Study Committee Budget calls the automatic nature of COLAs a “problem” and implies that they should be subjected to annual Congressional approval―turning Social Security benefits into another fiscal deadline that they can take hostage, like the debt ceiling.

Seniors need to know: Republicans think that today’s Social Security benefits are too high, and are willing to fight to lower them. 

The bottom line is that Democrats want to make annual COLAs more accurate and generous, while Republicans want to make them stingier. Democrats also support other policies that would lower costs for Social Security beneficiaries, including Harris’s recently released plan to expand Medicare to include home care, hearing, and vision benefits. These are the facts that could determine the election.

Here’s more from Just Care:

Comments

2 responses to “2025: Social Security benefits up 2.5 percent”

  1. BC Avatar
    BC

    …the (R)s always feel that those struggling to survive get too much but their rich sugar daddies” don’t. They want people to work until they drop dead the job (for low wages) or be tossed out on the streets.

    2.5% is ridiculous as not everyone receives the average, let alone maximum monthly benefit. For myself the increase will be swallowed up by yet another rent increase which basically means fallign behind. Grocery prices are still high where I live and will go higher if the Kroger-Albertsons merger goes through as it will give Kroger a monopoly here. Our power utility also raised rates again (most home and apartment heating here is electric),

    So It’s not just the cost of meds, The costs I mention above are not figured in properly. In many ways the current adjustments barely keep pace with actual living costs. For example, I live in the Northwest which has higher cost of living than say the midwest or south. Hence, compared to someone living in say, Alabama receives has to be stretched much further for those where I am.

    Some would say “move”, but with no car (not even a licence), the acute shortage of low income housing, and having to establish residency to become eligible for state and local programmes, that just isn’t going to happen. Furthermore would I really want to live in a state with a political environment that is hostile to my views and needs (as well is ated very poorly on healthcare)?

    Social Security not only needs to be protected from teh (R)S who would love to gut and/ or privatise it, but expand it and the way to do so is to raise or better yet, eliminate cap on earnings. Tpp many seniors re living at or below the poverty line as Social Security is their only source of income.

    Reply
    1. Andrea Avatar
      Andrea

      Brilliantly stated, BC. Hell, in fall of 2020, Dumpty, via his 2000th executive order, he stopped all federal employees from paying into FICA. He, AND all his Reichwing tribe, were so pleased with this step to destruction of their forever hatred of New Deal programs that Social Security is, Dumpty further promised he would stop ALL Americans from paying FICA if he had stayed in the WhiteHouse with the 2020 election.

      I think Americans are in denial not to recognize IF Dumpty or any Reichwinger took power again, that OUR Social Security would be destroyed–stolen completely. And Medicare, too.
      Rs are the political tribe of serial criminals & they are proud of it.

      So, for now, 2.5% increase is sadly pathetic and is all elderly and disabled can hope for. I don’t hear Harris or Dem party leaders saying the words we all have wanted to hear them say for decades now: That they will be fighting to EXPAND OUR precious earned benefits aka: Social Security & Medicare.
      With Medicare, dental care can bankrupt the elderly and disabled, too. I don’t hear a peep from Dem party leaders on this most vital part of healthcare.
      I’m fortunate to have a low interest mortgage. My heart goes out to you as a renter today! Private equity firms are also screwing renters with the rents going up exponentially every year, now. In fact, what does any elderly person need that isn’t rising in cost way over our heads?

      Ppl like us just keep falling further & further behind. Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren are our only real advocate in the senate. Who is going to replace them in years to come when our Social Security dedicated funding runs out & we face a 20% reduction in benefits come 2034?

      “Scrap the Cap,” needs strong progressive Democrats to fight the billionaires for us. Who will be representing us by then??

      Reply

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