“The 2.8% Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for next year will be a disappointment to many seniors struggling to pay their monthly bills. This is the second lowest COLA since 2021 and only a slight increase from this year’s. While any increase in benefits helps, for many seniors the 2026 COLA will be largely offset by the anticipated hike in Medicare Part B premiums — projected to be around $21 per month. Some beneficiaries may see no net increase in Social Security benefits!
Seniors on fixed incomes are rightly concerned that the Social Security COLA is not keeping pace with the true impact of inflation on their living costs — especially in areas where prices are soaring. Medical, housing, and grocery costs are outstripping the COLA.
We have long advocated for an improved COLA formula — the CPI-E (Consumer Price Index for the Elderly) — that would measure inflation for the goods and services that seniors rely upon as a distinct demographic group. The current formula, the CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers), most definitely does not reflect seniors’ spending patterns — resulting in inaccurate, inadequate COLAs.
NCPSSM has endorsed several pieces of legislation that would adopt the CPI-E for calculating COLAs, including bills sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders and Mazie Hirono, Reps. John Larson, Val Hoyle and Jill Tokuda. This improvement is long overdue. Instead of expecting seniors to simply scrape by every month, Congress should act sooner than later to make sure beneficiaries can better cope with the ravages of rising living costs.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
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Media Inquiries:
Walter Gottlieb