News sources say the Darndest Thinks

From Social Security: Proposal for $2,400 Extra in Checks Expanded and Reintroduced in Congress in my Yahoo news feed

Aren’t inflation and increases in the cost of living pretty much the same thing? Social Security cost of living increases would be significantly smaller if inflation were lower.

(Yes, social security’s measure of inflation is poorly chosen for seniors’ expenses, ; yes, there is a lag between when prices increase and when social security checks increase, but I find that sentence very misleading. And yes, for many social security recipients that monthly check is a far more critical part of their total income than it is in my case.)

1 Like

i believe SS Cola was 8% this year

Medicare premiums went Down 3%
Though last year they went up 15%

Medicare dollar increases can never exceed SS dollar increases

What was the level of general inflation?

Not sure exactly what measure you want. Social security’s increase was 8.7%.

From Consumer Price Index: 2022 in review : The Economics Daily: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

From a source I didn’t save, the CPI index for All Urban Consumers increased 9.1%. Many people for whom social security is important are urban. Many must also be rural, and some would be suburban, or whatever other categories exist.

ok, now chart it over multiple years to see if SS is slipping behind the general CPI

Unfortunately the BLS website is down for maintenance until tomorrow, and most Google hits rely on it. (Including the link in my first post). But what is your point? In post 1 I suggested social security used a poor index. You suspect social security will track better with the general index? And for that matter, which do you consider the “general index”?

Based on a source I found now, the CPI-U (All Urban Consumers) which increased 9.1% in 2022 is the “most commonly used” CPI (whatever that means). I don’t know the code for the “all items” index.

I have no point, was bored

Yeah, I’d say that qualifies as a “darnedest thing”… that’s pretty dumb IMO.

1 Like