Social Security cancels COLAs

Does the AARP like this, too?

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Barack Obama already has had a tough time with seniors on the health-care reform initiative, and for good reasons. The latest news from Social Security won’t make them any happier about it. The Social Security administration has canceled cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for the next two years, which means the fixed income on which these seniors rely will freeze at current levels. However, their Medicare premiums will still increase, which means they will get less money over the next two years, the first declines in SSA in more than 30 years:

Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise. The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won’t be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn’t happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

By law, Social Security benefits cannot go down. Nevertheless, monthly payments would drop for millions of people in the Medicare prescription drug program because the premiums, which often are deducted from Social Security payments, are scheduled to go up slightly. …

Advocates say older people still face higher prices because they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care, where costs rise faster than inflation. Many also have suffered from declining home values and shrinking stock portfolios just as they are relying on those assets for income.

“For many elderly, they don’t feel that inflation is low because their expenses are still going up,” said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. “Anyone who has savings and investments has seen some serious losses.”