Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

The Social Security COLA Will Be Lower in 2020, But Retirees Say Prices Are Going Up Faster Than COLA According to The Senior Citizens League
  • USA - English


News provided by

The Senior Citizens League

Oct 01, 2019, 04:00 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

Fastest Growing Retiree Prices 08-18 to 08-19
Fastest Growing Retiree Prices 08-18 to 08-19

“Some of the fastest growing costs of retirees, such as Medicare premiums, don’t show up in the COLA at all, because the CPI-W does not include that expenditure,” Johnson points out.

Post this

WASHINGTON (PRWEB) October 01, 2019 -- Consumer price data indicate that inflation has fallen over the past 12 months, and the Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be about 1.6 percent in 2020, according to an estimate from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). That’s considerably lower than the 2.8 percent that retirees received in 2019. But retirees who depend on Social Security COLAs say they haven’t noticed lower prices over the past 12 months. “To the contrary, The Senior Citizens League received numerous examples of price increases when we asked retirees for comments about price inflation in recent months,” says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League.

For example, consumer price data for August 2018 through August 2019 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show prescription drugs for all urban consumers did not go up, but went down (- 0.7) percentage point. Yet many of the comments mentioned significant increases in prescription drug costs. As one commenter put it, “My most important prescription drug copay went from $7 to $32 a month in 2019. My 2nd most important went from $15 to $45. Two that were $2 each went down to $0.”

Another retiree wrote, “My wife and I are both octogenarians and Social Security is 90% of our income. The remaining is a fixed amount. Over the last three years from 2016 to 2019 our Social Security income increased by a total of about $150 per month. But during that same three-year period our Medicare premiums increased by 29 percent or $61 per month. Further, our Medicare Supplement insurance premiums increased by almost 15 percent or $68 per month. That left us with an increase in our income-over three years-of about $21 per month. It’s difficult to determine how an income increase of seventy cents a day over a three-year period helps us to maintain the status quo.

Consumer price data through August does show the cost of health insurance for all urban consumers went up — a painful 18.6 percent —and is one of the fastest growing items for all consumers. Yet that cost alone does not seem to be driving the rest of the CPI, or the COLA up. So why will it be so low in 2020?

A big factor is the consumer price index that’s used to calculate the annual benefit increase. That index, called the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), doesn’t account for the spending patterns of older retired people, but rather is tied to the market basket of younger urban workers. According to the BLS, the CPI-W only represents only 28 percent of the total U.S. population, and excludes households with no one in the labor force —such as retirees.

Older adults, however, spend more on healthcare and housing, two categories of costs that tend to grow much faster than overall inflation. Younger workers spend more on transportation costs but, despite a recent spike in the price of crude oil, gasoline prices in the U.S. are still lower than this time a year ago. Prices of TVs, smart phones and computer software that make up a bigger portion of the budget for younger households, have dropped significantly.

“Some of the fastest growing costs of retirees, such as Medicare premiums, don’t show up in the COLA at all, because the CPI-W does not include that expenditure,” Johnson points out. “Growth in out-of-pocket prescription drug costs and Medicare premiums are two of the biggest cost challenges that most retirees have,” Johnson notes.

If actual costs grow faster than the COLA raises benefits, the purchasing power of benefits erodes, and retirees need to spend more of their savings, go into debt, or wind up going without essentials including food and medicine. A study released earlier this year by The Senior Citizens League found that Social Security benefits have lost 33 percent of buying power since 2000, because typical retiree costs are growing faster than the COLA increases benefits.

To protect Social Security benefits from an erosion in buying power, The Senior Citizens League supports legislation that would strengthen the COLA. To learn more, visit http://www.SeniorsLeague.org.
###

With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one of the nation’s largest nonpartisan seniors’ groups. Its mission is to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. Visit http://www.SeniorsLeague.org for more information.

ALSO AVAILABLE TO JOURNALISTS: Full Report including study methodology.

Chart of Growth of Expenses

Shannon Benton, The Senior Citizens League, http://www.SeniorsLeague.org, 703-548-5568, [email protected]

Modal title

Press Release COLAs Down/Prices Up
View PDF
Press Release COLAs Down/Prices Up
Press Release COLAs Down/Prices Up

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.