The Social Security Administration SSA announced on October 13th that Social Security benefits will increase 8.7 % in 2023 — the largest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in four decades. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January. Acting SSA Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi hailed the near-historic COLA:

“Medicare premiums are going down and Social Security benefits are going up in 2023, which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room. This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned.” – Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Social Security Commissioner, 10/13/22

Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare said in a statement today that the 8.7% COLA is enough to keep seniors from falling further behind, but does not put them ahead financially:

“As helpful as the 8.7% COLA may sound, it’s more like a band aid on a gaping financial wound from chronically rising living expenses for seniors — who have had to make do with historically inadequate COLAs (without a boost in base benefits for the past fifty years). In fact, COLAs have been downright paltry (from zero to 2%) for seven of the last ten years.” – Max Richtman, NCPSSM President & CEO, 10/13/22

NCPSSM’s legislative director, Dan Adcock, told CNBC’s Lorie Konish, “The COLAs really are about people treading water; they’re not increases in benefits… They’re more trying to provide inflation protection so that people can maintain their standard of living.”

A 75 year-old retiree in Florida named Gloria Hinojosa told the New York Times that she relies on her Social Security benefits to cover basic living expenses, including a rent of more than $1,200 per month.  She says that the roughly $180 extra she will receive starting in January will give her a little more “breathing room” financially.

The current COLA formula, based on the CPI-W, reflects the impact of inflation on urban wage earners, not seniors. There is a newer inflation index available, the CPI-E (Consumer Price Index for the Elderly), that more accurately reflects seniors’ spending patterns.  The CPI-E is included in Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 legislation and in Senator Bernie Sander’s Social Security Expansion Act. Both bills would also give seniors a badly needed benefit boost while requiring the wealthy to contribute their fair share to Social Security.  (Republicans have proposed adopting an even less generous COLA formula, based on the Chained CPI, along with cutting benefits by raising the retirement age.)

“Unfortunately, neither bill is likely to come up for a vote during the remainder of the 117^th Congress, and that’s a shame. Because every year that Congress kicks the can down the road, the closer Social Security’s projected trust fund shortfall draws — and the more dire the financial struggles become for seniors on fixed incomes.  Large majorities of the American public across party lines support Social Security and want to see it expanded and strengthened.” – Max Richtman, 10/13/22

Conservatives claim that the 2023 COLA will add to Social Security’s financial challenges by shortening the life expectancy of the program’s trust fund, an assertion echoed in today’s Washington Post.  “The increase will help seniors adjust to higher living costs, but it also will further strain Social Security’s finances, bringing forward the date by which the program’s trust fund is projected to be exhausted.” This, like other pieces of propaganda from the right regarding Social Security, is a red herring. The Chief Actuary of the Social Security program, Stephen Goss, has said that the higher than usual COLA “should have (only) a small effect on trust fund financial status.”

As Max Richtman points out, NCPSSM believes that one of the wealthiest nations in the world can afford to boost benefits for one of its most vulnerable populations.

After years of rising costs for older Americans, a deadly pandemic that took a disproportionate toll on seniors, and rampant post-pandemic inflation, one has to wonder what Congress is waiting for. Seniors and their families should weigh their votes carefully this fall — and elect representatives committed to boosting Social Security – including those frequently inadequate COLAs.”

Congress passed a continuing resolution Friday to keep the government funded until December 16th. It contains additional money for the beleaguered Social Security Administration, which services the 66 million Americans receiving Social Security and people applying for benefits.  NCPSSM president and CEO Max Richtman issued the following statement today in response to the Congressional action:::

“Congress is handing the Social Security Administration a modest financial lifeline, but the extra money may only help the agency to tread water. The Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government temporarily funded boosts spending for the Social Security Administration (SSA), an agency that has been chronically under-funded while striving to improve customer service to the public.  Under the CR, SSA will receive an additional $400 million for FY 2023. We applaud Congressional Democrats for inserting this funding increase into the bill when spending for most other agencies remains temporarily frozen.   

The increased funding should help SSA cope with its long-standing customer service backlog, which was greatly exacerbated by the pandemic. Customers have been subjected to long hold times on the SSA toll-free phone line, extensive delays awaiting disability claims hearings, and – since the re-opening of field offices last summer – waiting in line at some locations for hours in the heat. With the new level of funding, those problems likely will not get worse, but they may not significantly improve.

SSA requested twice as much funding for the CR ($800 million) and Congress shouldapprove that level when an Omnibus Appropriations bill for the reminder of FY 2023 is enacted.  We will work with Social Security champions in Congress and other advocacy groups to secure SSA the funding it truly needs to improve customer service.  American workers whose wages finance the Social Security program expect Congress to fully fund SSA so it can properly serve the public.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, 9/30/22 

Last May, the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee held a hearing on customer service issues at SSA. Witness after witness (including NCPSSM President Max Richtman) testified that the agency is in dire need of additional resources in order to properly serve the public.  While witnesses praised SSA employees for doing their best to provide the public with customer service during the pandemic, they painted a picture of an underfunded and overworked agency in desperate need of Congressional action.

Rebecca Vallas of the Century Foundation advocacy group told lawmakers at the hearing, “A decade-plus history of congress underfunding SSA’s already incredibly lean operating budget, worsened by the pandemic, has spurred several urgent crises in the agency’s customer service…The casualties are your constituents.”

Among the most pressing problems that have plagued SSA customer service are long hold times, disconnects, and busy signals on the agency’s toll-free phone line and excessive delays in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) hearings.  (Over 100,000 claimants have died waiting for their cases to be adjudicated.).  In April, SSA was able to re-open most of its field offices after being shuttered for almost two years during the COVID pandemic.

“We are doing what we can with current staff and funding. The demand for service is high; we are losing staff; and morale is low,” testified Peggy Murphy, Director of the Social Security field office in Great Falls, Montana.  “SSA is at a critical juncture as we face the future.”

In August, Lorie Konish of CNBC reported:

People who face long waits for service at the Social Security Administration’s field offices have had to contend with one more complication this summer — intense heat. “Although most SSA field offices can assist visitors, in some locations people have been standing outside in the heat for hours at a time, without the guarantee of getting their needs met,” wrote Reps. Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Kevin Brady, R-Texas, in a letter addressed to Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. – CNBC, 8/17/22

Chairman Richard Neal presides as House Ways & Means Committee advances Social Security legislation

A bill to repeal two largely unpopular rules affecting some public sector workers’ ability to collect Social Security benefits was reported out of the House Ways & Means Committee today. The Social Security Fairness Act was introduced by Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), and currently has more than 290 cosponsors from both parties.

The bill would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer who did not withhold Social Security taxes. It would also repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which can reduce survivors’ benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who receive their own government pensions.

“This bill aims to address longstanding problems of WEP and GPO.  While well intentioned, these provisions penalize many hard-working public servants and their family members. After serving their communities for years, teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees in certain states are hit with an unwelcome surprise after retiring, a reduction in their Social Security benefits due to WEP and GPO.” – Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), Chair of the House Ways & Means Committee

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare supports enactment of Rep. Davis’ bill, but prefers that WEP and GPO be addressed as part of broader Social Security reform, preferably via Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust legislation.

Rep. Larson’s bill not only would repeal WEP and GPO, but boost Social Security benefits across the board and extend the solvency of the trust fund.  And, unlike the Social Security Fairness Act, the elimination of WEP and GPO are paid for in Larson’s legislation. Rep. Davis’ bill does not have a funding mechanism and actually would accelerate the projected depletion of the Social Security trust fund.

House leadership has so far prevented Social Security 2100 Act from going through committee mark-up and proceeding to the floor for a vote, prompting Rep. Larson to offer his bill as a substitute for Rep. Davis’ legislation during today’s committee meeting. Congressman Larson withdrew his amendment shortly afterward, knowing that it was going to be ruled “not germane” to the committee’s business at hand. But it did give him an opportunity to make an impassioned plea for the House to take up his own bill – benefitting all 65 million Americans on Social Security and not just the 2.7 million affected by WEP and GPO – before the 117^th Congress is gaveled to a close.

“The group that’s hit hardest by inflation and pandemic are the seniors of this great nation. For 51 years Congress has kicked the can down the road without improving benefits. Repealing WEP and GPO are part of my bill — they are paid for. Seniors on fixed incomes need us to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. We need to vote on (my bill) instead of kicking the can down the road.” – Rep. John Larson, 9/20/22

Dan Adcock, NCPSSM’s Director of Government Relations and Policy, says that the National Committee will continue to work with Rep. Larson to urge House leadership to take up Social Security 2100.  But, he says, “the chances that bill will be considered by the full House grow dimmer as the number of days on the legislative calendar for the 117^th Congress dwindles.”

Meanwhile, Adcock says, although Rep. Davis’ Social Security Fairness Act was advanced out of the Ways and Means Committee (albeit ‘without recommendation’), its fate is uncertain. “Given that Rep. Davis’ bill is not paid for and violates the Congressional PAYGO rule, it is unlikely that the bill will be considered by the House during this Congress.”

Rep. John Larson makes an impassioned plea for his Social Security 2100 Act. “Let’s not kick the can down the road any longer.”

If, as looks increasingly likely, neither Davis’ or Larson’s bills come up for a vote, another session of the U.S. Congress will have gone by without real improvements to Social Security, which current and future seniors most definitely need in order to retire with financial security and dignity. It will be up to voters this November to elect more members of Congress who will do what it takes to pass meaningful legislation to boost Social Security.

National Committee President Max Richtman and other advocates joined President Biden at the White House on Tuesday for a celebration of the new law reducing prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, the Inflation Reduction Act.  The event, held on the South Lawn, was attended by members of Congress, administration officials, and representatives of seniors’ groups including AARP, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, and the seniors’ council of the Democratic National Committee.

“We have been fighting to lower prescription drug prices for a long time. And even though the new law doesn’t include everything we’d hoped for, this is a significant victory for seniors. To see the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law and then to be invited to participate in this celebration today is truly remarkable.” – Max Richtman, NCPSSM President and CEO, 9/13/22   

President Biden touted the hardest-fought provision in the law, the ability for Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices with drugmakers. The pharmaceutical industry spent millions of dollars trying to defeat that measure, but ultimately failed.

“For years, Big Pharma blocked Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices.  But not this year.  This year, the American people won, and Big Pharma lost.” – President Biden, 9/13/22

The President credited “brave allies in Congress… and so many determined advocates and activists across the country” for standing up to Big Pharma and pushing the law across the finish line.

The list of lawmakers at the White House event included Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who withdrew his support for an earlier iteration of the law but finally conceded to more modest reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act.  Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pushed the bill through the Senate via the budget reconciliation process on a 50-50 vote, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie.  The House passed the bill on August 12^th and sent it to President Biden for signature. Not a single Republican in either house of Congress supported the bill to lower prescription drug costs.

“I want to thank President Biden. We would never, never have gotten the Inflation Reduction Act done without his steady hand. For over a year-and-a-half, he dared us to dream big, pushed us to aim high, and urged us to never let go of our promise to the American people.” – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, 9/13/22

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare will begin negotiating the prices of ten of the most expensive prescription drugs in 2024.  The negotiated prices will take effect two years later, in 2026. According to Reuters, those drugs “will be chosen from among some of the 50 medicines responsible for the highest Medicare spending that have no cheaper generic or biosimilar alternatives.” By 2029, the number of drugs subject to negotiation will double.

The new law also caps out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 per year. “That will mean tremendous savings to millions of seniors who have been forced to pay significantly more out of their own pockets up until now,” Richtman points out.  “Equally important is the provision in the new law that limits beneficiaries’ costs for insulin to $35 per month.  Right now, that figure can easily reach $1,000 or more every month.”

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, Big Pharma can no longer hike drug prices at will without repercussions.  “Price increases on drugs will be limited to below the rate of inflation,” reports US News. “Price increases for half of all drugs covered by Medicare outpaced inflation from 2019 to 2020.” Some of those price jumps were more than 7.5% in a single year.

Social Security Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi and NCPSSM President Max Richtman at the White House