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Subscribe to RSSThe good news: Social Security recipients are getting their first cost-of-living raise, 3.6 percent, since 2009. The bad news: Rising Medicare premiums will eat into that increase for many, and could erase it entirely for a small percentage.
Advocates for older Americans say prices on necessities like drugs continued to rise even during the years when no increases were given. Plus, volatile food and energy prices strain the budgets of retirees on a fixed income. On Wednesday, the government reported that consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in September, driven by higher prices for food and for gas. Minus prices hikes for those items, inflation rose a mere 0.1 percent in the month.
Still, in the latest 12 months, rising prices were enough to justify the 3.6 percent increase.
Related:Social Security recipients getting 3.6% raise, first in two years
"Seniors have basically been in a standstill for two full years, and some of that breathing room is going to be wiped out by the fact that premiums are going up," says Cathy Weatherford, CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute, a trade association for providers of annuities, insurance and financial planning.
There's no argument that Americans rely too heavily on programs like Social Security for their retirement income. More than half of married seniors depend on Social Security for 50 percent of their income; slightly less than a quarter rely on it for 90 percent of their income, according to the Social Security Administration. While the Medicare increase won't be dire for everyone, the concern it's generating raises a red flag that many Americans are woefully underfunded for their so-called golden years.
According to Paul Van de Water, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about 3 percent of Social Security recipients will see their entire COLA increase wiped out by the Medicare Part B premium hike. The COLA increase works out to an average of $40 a month per beneficiary. While the exact details on the Medicare Part B premium won't be announced until next month, Van de Water says the most recent estimates project an average $10 per month.
The average senior will still come out ahead, he says. "The COLA is doing exactly what it's supposed to" by giving seniors a hedge against rising inflation, he says.
A statement issued by the AARP says the rise in Medicare premiums is one of many issues contributing to the financial pressure seniors face. Of course, a COLA can't be a hedge against a drop in property values or stock portfolio values, which is why the IRI's Weatherford says people need to take more of an active role in their retirement planning.
"It's a clarion call for those of us that are making plans to live on Social Security to start thinking about this," she says. We've got to be much more personally aware."
Leave a Comment:
My costs this year alone jumped 6%. Somebody is "cooking the books". COLA supposed to go hand in hand with inflation. The system is rigged and the altimate purpose of Republicans and Democrats alike that serve the 1% is to dismantle the safety nets , such as Social Security to pay for endless wars and bank bailouts.
A good example of how money is stolen from the elderly , who paid into the system most of their lives was the Boskin Commision under Bill Clinton. He made them "cook the books " to reduce COLA estimates. Also ,Clinton added Social Security receipts to his administrations income, hiding the real deficit-if that is not criminal, I do not know what is. Cheating the elderly that paid into the system of what is due them !!!
Sure, the people cooking the books are the fed. When they print money and devaluate the dollar, costs rise. Banks are allowed access to cheap money, but what does this do to savings? Erodes them...
Printing more money above our current 14T in debt is a tax on the poor. They pay higher prices because more money is in circulation. This is not rocket science.
You want less inflation? Elect ron paul. Any other candidate both democrat or republican is just continuing business as usual.
Aw put a sock in it! Nobody's cooking any books or trying to screw you or anyone else. The law that governs COLAs has been around since around 1974, with no major changes. It's very simple; if the cost of living index goes up 1%, then there will be an equal 1% COLA.
@spider
Aw pull the wool from your eyes. Look at how many times they changed the way they calculate inflation.
Wake up
Just Washington's way of "massaging the numbers" thinking that it will make us feel better about the great ponzie scheme known as Social Insecurity.
Hey there's no inflation. Just ask the Obama Administration.
Nobody is cooking the books, the reason for the low SS COLA is that inflation has remained low as a result of our economic problems. The real problems for SS is the fact that the contribution cap must be raised, that too many people are faking injuries to get SS disability benefits at a fairly early age, that the contributor/beneficiary ratio has been reduced to the breaking point, and that both Republicans and Democrats have been using the SS Trust Fund to compensate for insufficient government revenues to pay for the things our country needs.
Having aid that, the program that is in trouble is MEDICARE, in part because of the 2003 Part D "reform" which was nothing more than a gift to the pharma industry, escalating medical costs, and service provider abuse.
Since SS and Medicare won't be there for me when I retire despite a lifetime of contributions, cry moar.
FatSean, if SS and MEDICARE go away ours will be the only country in the industrialized world without a pension and healthcare program for seniors.
Don't fret, I still remember what my former employer told me over 50 years ago when he was explaining the benefit package to me and the SS contribution issue came up. He apologized profusely and said that he hated to tell employees about contributing to a program that would not be there by the time they retired...I have been on SS for ten years now.
spider-737231
You can put something where the sun doesn't shine. Obama was the first administration to EVER deny a COLA to those on Social Security. I hope when you reach your senior years they stick you an a rotten home and let you eat dirt.
Spider, I hope you don't actually believe that! Prices have gone up for the previous two years, yet the COLA hasn't. Have you gone shopping for food lately, energy, clothing, rent? All of these have been going up, yet the government claims they aren't. The cost of a new home may be down, but that isn't a factor for most people. The books are cooked, and the government is looking to cook them even more with the chained cost of living calculation. The people on Social Security now were led to believe that Social Security would take care of them by Democrats that bought votes with that promise. Of course that promise couldn't be kept. I don't blame those on Social Security now, but I do blame the government for making the promise. I also think the government should make good on that promise and do something to fix the problem for the future generations. First off, let's knock off the foreign aid! Next do something about the waste in all government programs. After that, let's talk about taxes.
spider = quite obviously a person who does NOT have to make-due on Social Security, Disability, etc., or more accurately does not have to TRY to make-due ..... a person who doesn't have a parent/grand-parent/other relative in the same situation ..... a person so short-sighted that he/she can't grasp the fact that tomorrow an injury or disease just may screw him/her up so bad that a monthly fixed-income check is ALL the money they will EVER receive until he/she dies ..... a person obviously in complete ignorance of what he/she writes about .....
..... and absolute worst of all .....
..... a person who, since none of this Social Security crap applies to them, happily uses that fact as yet another of myriad reasons to preach their hate & better-than-you attitude.
And THAT type attitude is quite likely the ugliest & least useful of the very worst possible from a person. And saddly, there are MANY persons just like that.
I'm fortunate however, in that I lost a large part of the left side of my body .... everything below that elbow, that eye, and that side's hearing .... from a RPG while serving in Iraq, when just barely over 30 years of age.
So because of that, my disability check comes from the VA, not Social Security.
Oh wait .... they're still on the very same pay-scale, very same COLA, or very same non-COLA. Huummm .... never mind. Oh well, at least I earned my little 60-something extra dollars per month, unlike most of those who preach their "Aw put a sock in it" BS. The collateral for that huge 40 cents per hour per 3 years raise was my health, my blood, and my body.
I think you are right but politions don't see or hear this,they have it made and they know it.
Maybe David you should have planned ahead and saved money for retirement in a IRA, 401k or some other savings instrument. Both my wife and I have made great sacrifices by saving the maximum we could put into our retirement funds. Sure we lost some money due to the housing bubble that burst and the stock market crash, but most of that has come back. If you didn't save for your retirement with only S/S and Medicare, then you have no one to blame but yourself.
It's called creative accounting. You can make the numbers come out to what ever figure has been decided on. This has been brought to us by the same people who, not only, did not miss a pay increase but received a percentage higher than the average wage earner. All this and they didn't even show up for work all of the time. I give you our congress.
Everyone on here talking about personal responsibility must not realize that people working for minimum wage or slightly higher have no ability to save for retirement. Not everyone has a 401k, an IRA, or the ability to fund one. If everyone made enough to put away a nice portion of their wages for retirement a Big Mac would be 10 dollars, your yard maintance man would get 40 dollars an hour. Get real, many jobs have no benefits and a low wage.
"Everyone on here talking about personal responsibility must not realize that people working for minimum wage or slightly higher have no ability to save for retirement."
I think they do realize it, that's why they're preaching personal responsibility. Personal responsibility includes bettering oneself, regardless of sacrifice, so as to increase one's value to society, and not have to settle for those "minimum wage or slightly higher" jobs.
Some simply call it growing up.
Some of the people on Social Security never had a real opportunity to save. My grandmother dropped out of school to help support her family (as expected during the depression), worked in a plane factory during WWII, and when the boys came home worked as a waitress until the babies came. In the fifties it was very common for the wife to stay home and not return to work. My grandfather made enough money for them to live on but not enough to save much. He died of cancer in 1977 and after the doctors got their share there was only enough left to bury him. She was unable to return to work or move to where there was work and had no real choice but to take Social Security. Now she lives on $1200 payments a month that must pay for her health insurance (medicare doesn't cover everything), utilities, food, property tax, and fire insurance. How many of the personal responsibility people could live on that? She is able to because she never forgot what she learned during the depression, has never lived beyond her means, and knows how to put aside money for what she needs in the future. Every increase in her Social Security payment is literally taken by the health insurance premiums.
The problem with all this is that the government's inflation calculations do not approximate the rise in price of the everyday items that people have to buy: food, gas, medical, rent, utilities.
Thus the government while not actively screwing SS recipients has and continues to screw them from the get-go by using numbers that don't correspond to the lives and expenses of people who don't have much money.
Personal responsibility is the cure the wealthy prescribe for the non-wealthy. In other words, in almost all discussions, and very often in practice, it's pure bullsh$%^%t.
The article was on how much the cost of there Medicare Premiums ....It told me nothing on how much more they are going to take out of the 3.6 percent increase....For medicare?
Two years ago I got about $875/mo
Today, I get $800/mo
This pay increase of $40/mo won't even put me back where I was two years ago.
You're full of @!$%#.
No, he's not big Jim. For the past two years, there was no COLA, so his benefit stayed the same. However, medicare premiums went up both years, so the net result was a decreased benefit check. Oh, and you're rude.....and apparently uninformed.
Get your facts straight Jim...you are wrong..dead wrong.
If you don't get a Cola you don'y get raised up on medicare..It's the law
maze-1548920....."If you don't get a Cola [increase] you don'y [SP, don't] get raised up on medicare..It's the law"
Link to your assertion please. Then you can re-direct your statement, along with the link, to our Congressional representatives and tell them they are breaking the law they drafted and voted on. Or better yet, you can take them to court.
Maybe they could fall in the Federal Court line BEHIND Mr. "DOJ" Holder for his "Fast and Furious" scheme.
I don't know what country you come from but My wife is on SS and her medicare has not gone up in two years...its been 94 $ month
OK Maze, who do I sue? I didn't get a COLA last year and my Medicare went up.
My wages have stagnated and my medical bills have gone up. There won't be even that much SS for me when I retire. Cry to someone who cares.
Jim, Spider is correct. You're rude.
MEDICARE fees vary dependent on income and the contributions we made during our lifetime. In my case I pay $150 a month in MEDICARE fees and I pay the same for my wife. Like most seniors I also have Supplemental Insurance from a for-profit carrier to cover the 20% that MEDICARE does not cover, and that adds another $300 a month for my wife and I, plus another insurance for RX. To make matters worse, we also have to deal with a hefty deductible and out of pocket expenses.
The most irritating part is that some people refer to Social Security and MEDICARE as welfare. Gosh, if this is welfare I would hate to see capitalism!
It's TRUE. My Mom's benefits went down also. Medicare premiums went up too. For those of you who were not affected; be glad. Who the hell knows why?
Since when does a 3.65% raise on $800.00 come out to $40.00 a month? So if your figures are off that much on simple math, perhaps you should re-check your figures for this story. There is likely another reason you make less now besides medicare going up that much in two years. Medicare hasn't gone up $75.00 a month in the last two years. You must have been over paid or or some other thing was bringing your income down by $75.00 a month within two years time.
It really rots when people complain and try to explain their problems with out knowing or telling the truth behind the real story. It's a lot easier to just say whatever you want because it makes you feel good, Besides, plenty of people will believe it and pass it on as fact. Maybe you even believe it your self.
Perhaps Social Security didn't deduct medicare for a few months and now you are making up for it. Whatever is causing your income to drop that much in such a short period of time should be checked out. Maybe the Government owes you some back pay.
So check your facts and amounts out. It's too bad that some people like to contribute to the general discourse by just putting out any numbers they see fit. It's confusing and does nothing to help the real problems with our system.
+1 Markz The failure of the people to accurately account for their wealth is the problem with our system.
Ask anyone, how much do you pay in all taxes a year? No one will ever give you a correct answer. They can't! because by design they have no way of knowing.
When people finally decide to seek the answer to that question - they will finally, see why we are we are .
Until then we will hear that its the banks fault, its the corporations fault, its the fault of capitalism. Etc. Etc.
don't know why, but my check stayed the same as did my medicare payment, no cola no climb in medicare
We are all going to be old some day. (Hoping we live that long). Many seniors today bought there houses long ago to make money when they sold them. The fraud in the real estate and mortgage industry wiped out most of those gains for Mr. and Mrs. Middle of the road. Life's investments have turned sour, with the 401k fall downs. How can some one say "Oh you didn't plan?" For the folks under 40, let's see where you are in 25 to 30 years with your stuff. Those folks did everything right. It was the greedy who killed it. (Many industries and companies involved.) A savings account pays LESS than 1 percent. The stock market is not trustworthy, and 401ks (I had one, I know) go down and are not accountable for what they do. It's a stacked deck against all of us. But no matter. Who cares about the old and sick. The Tea Party hopes they die as to reduce the surplus population, just as Scrooge wanted. Social security contributions need to GO UP by at least 10% so there IS something there for the young now. Otherwise, it's pretty spooky being on your own at that age.
Wasn't it Obama that said granny 'should just take the pain pill'?
Your claim is entirely baseless.
the fact that you think you should decrease my pay to keep an insolvent system solvent on the backs of people not utilizing the system is wrong.
how about i have the option to opt out of it all together? why should I fund someone else's retirement? I know i can manage money better than the government can, thats for damn sure
The elderly will soon be occupying Wall Street... and Main street, Maple Street, 1st, 2nd, 3rd through 287th avenues. They will have no choice as the Republican Party ends Social Security and Medicare.
The TeaThuglican Party has every intention of taking back America... to 1687, before there was an America. They truly do want aristocratic despotic rule. We've already had George I and George II, who's next, Richard I ?
Seriously...a house isn't an investment.
I agree. When I got laid off some years back I had a 401k and I had to live on it because I was one of those people that wasn't able to find work right away. The job I had was shipped over seas. However, this story is like a lot of other peoples and is one reason we are in the fix our country is in today. Since quite a few people had to live on their 401k and when it comes time for them to retire all is left is their small Social Security check.
@ Dirp101
Oh how misinformed you are. I give credit to the republicans for actually starting a discussion on how to reform tax code and reform benefit programs such as social security and medicare. How could you honestly think that by raising taxes and continuing the same old will correct our problem? Are you really that duped by democrats to think that decreases in already slated % increases of budgets are actually cuts?? Get real buddy
In regards to bush II, hes pretty much tied with Obama in taking away our freedoms. Bush has the patriot act, obama has the mandate to buy from a private company.
They can raise Social Security contributions a Gazillion %. Until it goes in that "lock box", the politicians in DC will just spend every penny that comes in leaving the young with the same IOU's we got.
A good example of how they continue to steal..
So you got a COLA raise of 3.6% but "oh by the way, your Medicare just went up 10%" so in the end you still get ripped.
We paid into this for years and they now say there isn't enough. Well, don't give it to those that didn't pay.
On a side note, I have my SSI deposited into my checking account. The xfer always said "Social Security Income" until June of this year and now it says "Federal Benefit Credit."
BHO at work again, Benefit my butt, I paid it in, it is not a benefit. Damn government.
HEY BILL: Who the hell do you think created Social Security and Medicare???
It sure as hell was not the Republicans. What do you think Paul Ryan is just salivating to do to both programs. FDR was labeled a communist and worse. Ronald Reagan, even before he was in politics said in 1964 that LBJ's Medicare program was "Socialism" as if that was somehow a dirty word.
These programs have not only been created by Democrats but but supported over the decades against the constant onslaught of the Repbulican Party. Every 10 years or so the Right launches yet another attack. Bush tried to privatize S.S. if you recall and now Paul Ryan is attempting the very same thing with Medicare. So, before you curse Obama, you just might want to get your facts straight. If you have any anger to direct, I suggest you send it all in the direction of the GOP.
OZone, who do you think took the SSI funds that were set up to be not part of the General Fund and put it there so it could be raided by those that moved it there.
Do your homework.
In other words nothing has changed. Status Quo.
That's all they had to say in the first place.
This CONGRESS is NEVER going to help the People as long as Obama is POTUS.
This Congress is NEVER going to help the people period.
GET RID OF THEM!
Ozzie Boy you have to be the biggest idiot on two feet.
Buzz off yourself you right wing nut. The real parisites are the wealthy elite - or as you folks call them the "job makers" and "investment class." They took the Bush tax cuts and tanked the economy and it is the middleclass and poor who are paying. You and your kind are the parisites. People are waking up and your propaganda is no longer going to work.
All of you fools are doing exactly what the bosses want you to do and that is arguing amongst your selves. The f---king politicians and money people are laughing their asses off at all of us.
In recent years I heard about the billions in Medicare fraud, but never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it or the money being recovered. Has anyone else heard more?
I think they should fix that problem instead of passing the loss off to the taxpayers.
Medicare went up more than 10%...If you now pay 94 $ a month and it goes up to 108 $ a month then it more like the tune of 12 %
Bill...it looks like you have a problem with reading comprehension. Where in this article did it state that Medicare is going up 10%? Where? What paragraph did it state that? Come on, we'll wait. You republicans just love to lie and make up your own stories as fact. Well it's not true. Meicare isn't going up 10% because it would be counter-productive to do that. Even a moron would know that. But of course, most of the GOP/TP that I come into contact with fit that description so it's uderstood that they wouldn't understand a simple economic
Bzzt! Wrong...but thanks for playing!
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html
Scroll down, read it, and weep. Good for around 25 years.
People have paid into Social Security their entire working lives. Then some yay-hoos start squawking about "entitlements" being bad. If those yay-hoos work, they're paying into it...unless they're working under the table to avoid paying taxes. If they've paid into it all their lives, why shouldn't they expect to collect on it? I'm sure you expect your savings account, 401K, CDs, etc. to be there when you retire, so why not the Social Security you've paid into?
Some people...they just buy the nonsensical Republican rhetoric (a.k.a. BS) and don't try and think for themselves. Then again, that's the type of people the Republicans want to attract...they don't want people who'll think for themselves!
Bill Please re-read the article. It said that Medicare might up up $10 not 10%. Can't you people read??
@DG_W
Uhh, if you take a look at history republicans are generally for less government and protecting freedoms. Lets remember, it was the Democrats that enacted the Jim Crow laws with the poll tax. I find it weirdly odd that you enjoy paying taxes and actually like to give the government part of what you make.
Considering republicans historically are for protecting freedoms and limiting government, wouldn't that make them the party for the free thinkers and entrepreneurs?
Before you bring George Bush into this, remember, he ran on a platform in 2000 of reducing government, but was handed 9/11. Do you think Obama is really protecting YOUR freedoms, while mandating you buy insurance from a private company or pay a fine? Id say that they are pretty even if you look at it president vs president, Bush having the patriot act and Obama having Obamacare.
Bill, what it says on the deposit to your bank may be partly up to your bank. I get my SS on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Today's deposit said, "US TREASURY 303 XXSOC SEC"
HOTTICKET-2304234 Comment collapsed by the community
Just Washington's way of "massaging the numbers" thinking that it will make us feel better about the great ponzie scheme known as Social Insecurity.
No reason for the collapse of this comment, we are all entitled to our opinions.
I am so sick & tired of being screwed over by our government. There are big headlines saying we are going to get an increase in 2012 but you aren't seeing much being printed or said about the increase in medicare part B. Our so called law makers are about as crooked as they come. We need to really be careful who we elect next.
I agree with your last sentence. However, pull on your big girl panties, Rosie, when you kvetch about getting screwed over by government re SS. Give a moment's pause for our forbears who got nuthin' from nobody at 62, 65 or any other time. The only reason the Social Security program was established in the first place was because so many elderly were starving to death - the poverty rate of seniors was 50% or higher in the 1930s. It was intended as a SUPPLEMENT to people's own savings and pensions they might receive after years of work for the same employer (the old defined benefit pension, which has all but disappeared since the early 1980s.) No one was intended to get something for nothing. When SS was set up with 65 as the date for full payment, most people only lived until their mid 60s. So theoretically you could pay into the system for 30-40 years and never collect a dime. It's like group insurance, not a personal bank account.
kacz, apparently it is you who have a reading comprehension problem.
I didn't say the article said that, I said:
as it did, did you just make up your comment to fluff yourself?
It is really hard to have a dialog with those that can't read and also don't know it.
It might have said that in one place, but if you read farther it said $10 not 10%.
Check them out And VOTE them out,they forget who put them there,or who pays them! Put the entire congress on minimum wage and watch how quickly things will change. Now there are enough seniors to sway the VOTE. DO IT!
You write: "There's no argument that Americans rely too heavily on programs like Social Security for their retirement income." That is a lie.
Why perpetrate a lie?
In 1991, upon my father's death, I discover that his pension plus his Social Security was higher than my salary net after withholding. Just because the WW II generation got to buy up property and make themselves fat and happy doesn't mean that generations following should have less. And less and less and less and less.
You wanted privatization and this is what it has wrought. Who would trust investors after this?
No comparison, P.D'. The WWII generation was proud, tough bunch who asked for nothing to be given to them and made their own beds to lie in. The Boomers and subsequent generations are a bunch of soft wusses who can't seem to do anything for themselves, except whine about how unfair everything is.
Now, now spider you know that's not true. Why is it that you republicans like to lie so much? Is it just second nature to you to lie? And you don't even feel any remorse for doing so. That's a sign of a very sick mind.
It seems to me it is you that is doing the whinning. I'm a boomer who has worked for 50 years and never asked for anything from anyone. My "greatest generation" parents made it quite clear that I was expected to take care of myself without any support from them, a view I found quite acceptable. How dare you speak of that which you know nothing about.
Get out from behind your computer, leave your instant gratification technology at home and go out into the world. You may actually learn something first hand rather than it being spoon fed to you on a screen. Of course, this would require one to listen, think and then, God forbid, make one's own decision
Post-War generation benefited from a windfall - the rebuilding of Europe.
To P. D'Antonio, NOT EVERY PENSION PLAN IS THE SAME. MINE WAS FREE WITH THE AIRLINE THROUGH THE UNION. I also suffer with many Esophagus problems and I truly believe all the chemicals I worked with and ulcer in Esophagus from stress from the "Good Old Boys in the Union". My husband gets a great PENSION as he made very little which co-incided with the city plan as all figured out to a tee as he paid in big monies for his Pension pretty much $200.00 to $400.00 in later years as made more but when he worked overtime and slept all wknd there and removed snow they took $600.00 of his overtime including the reg. month payments for his Pension. You young people know nothing or some older. Every pension plan is different!!! My friend hates it too but her company gives BONUS checks each year which she got a lump sum of $15,000 and others at that same company up to $34,000 per year. I worked for not much for 46 yrs. my hubby got NO Bonuses for Viet Nam. He will not get any Social Security for 30 yrs with City as part of the Pension Plan as he did not pay in unless worked other jobs. He has worked other jobs now for 16 yrs plus his 30 for city. Plus his 4 yrs Marine service plus 6 yrs reserves. He is 65 and still working for Health Ins. Him and I never saw Bonuses!!!!! I don't get low free flying as quit early because of ulcer and many other throat problems working with so very many chemicals. Get your facts straight about Pensions!!!! I never heard of a 401K plan til 1991 in my whole life and neither did my husband. If they were around earlier must have been for the rich or high up people at jobs! Republicans wanted all the Soc. Sec. to INVEST, remember then we had the stockmarket fall with the Godlman Sacs and Wallstreet. My husband's Pension almost went broke and had to be transferred to another pension which were still not sure of! If Republicans would of had their way all the Social Security would have been gone then. LOL Stockbroker's would have taken a big share of soc. sec. How soon we forget Republicans went on and on about people invest their own and let stock people take over Soc. Sec. to invest and they would have lost all of it a long time ago!!! Every company has their perks and some are more generous than others!!!!! LOL
Good news - Social Security COLA increase in 2012 will be 3.6%.
Bad news - Medicare Part B costs will be raised in 2012 by 10%.
Net loss to Social Security payees will be 6.4%.
Thanks Mr. Obama.
BIGHORN: You actually think that Obama sets these rates???? That is absurd.
Secondly, as I have stated earlier, who the hell do you think you have to thank for both Medicare and Social Security??? It sure wasn't the Republicans. If they have their way, they'll kill off both of these programs. Have you not been paying attention to people like Congressman Paul Ryan???
I suggest you educate yourself regarding these and other social programs, before ranting. You can thank Democrats for fighting for them keeping them in effect.
Bighorn: you have a reading comprehension problem. The article stated that Medicare would probably go up $10 not 10%. Big difference.
Presidents strung up? You must be the tuna laid in sideways that just won't flush.
Regnaldo....what are you babbling about? Did you forget to take your meds today?
REYNALDO: "Aguirre" huh??? Sounds to me like you're one of those parasitic, illegal aliens, as well as an ignorant knuckledragger. May I see your papers please.........
"ozzie boy-2719086;
your degree of imbecility and prejudism is appaling, you may be right, but, these kind of comments are totally useless. you may also wonder whether or not a direct ancestor of yours was in the same predicament. you may also know that VERY few people in this country are direct descendants of conqueors.
Social Security is a fully funded program authorized by Congress.
Just check your paystub under FICA.
The ONLY reason that there is any issue at all with Social Security is b/c the
GOP stole $2.7 Trillion out of the funds to pay for their wars-for-profit and
left behind IOU's.
If the GOP restores all the money it stole out of Social Security then there
is absolutely no problem whatsoever with Social Security.
.
lol, 2.7 trillion. We know what lefty blogs you read. Most estimates say 1.27 trillion over 10 years.
The plundering of SS and replacement of IOUs goes to fund a lot more than the war efforts, the surplus has always been rolled over into the general fund. Are you honestly arguing that 100% of the general fund deficit is from war time efforts?
LOL.
So Jesse . . . the 1.27 trillion is OK ? ? ? we know which blogs you read . . .
Clinton also stole from it to balance his budget. (I'm a Left-leaner). They both have been stealing from it since Reagan got away with it.
jesse: that only ten years they have been stealing it since 1965..so it more like 5tillion
U.S.1776 -- What a breath of FRESH air in all of this STAGNANT Republicant rhetoric Short, succinct (sp.?) and STRAIGHT to the point. We wouldn't even be talking about SS if the almighty Republiturds hadn't raided the SSI fund REPEATEDLY to where they have put the program at risk for the NEXT generation of Americans. Support the jobs bill -- Obama in 2012.
The wars have cost more than 3 trillion dollars,and thats a very low estimate ! They have reaked havoc on the economy. The only people to profit from the Wars is the rich and well connected !
The R's raided it?! The D's every bit as much or more. Only fool think this is a partisan issue. There's no money there, and the brown stuff is gonna hit the fat over the next5-10 years, not 25 years from now.
Actually it is worse than 10%. The current medicare that I pay is $92, effective January of 2012 it becomes $108. That is basically 17.4%
verno, I'm sorry to bore you with things like 6th grade math but they are true. But vote for BHO again.
Bill from Oregon........Clinton is not a Republican but did take 60 trillion dollars from SS fund and put it in the general fund. Under Obamacare medicare goes up to $146 in 2014. Oh, by the way my medicare has been $112 since 2010. I guess dummycrates pay less............figures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the pilferage actually began with L.b.J and the viet nam war and has not since been stopped
When Al Gore was running for President he said that Social Security funds should be put in a "lockbox" so Congress couldn't keep raiding it to pay for pet projects. Republicans mocked and jeered. Doesn't seem so funny now, I bet.
It's nice that we got a social security COLA increase of 3.6%. Thank you Democrats for creating social security for the American people , but stop the Republicans from trying to destroy & eliminate social security and Medicare !! We need it for our middle class children and Republicans don't care about the middle class !!
If these a-holes give us seniors back the money we have paid into social security then they would not have the money for the welfare they give the lazy black criminals and the illegal mexicans. thanks again lendon johnson for all your civil rights crap you pushed through so you could get the black vote for your party. You should of went the sameway as kennedy did.the white seniors are not to be feared by this goverment but the blacks and mexicans will burn this country to the ground if they don't get their welfare checks.
billc- can you say "racist bigot" very much?
Hey Billie, Maw jest tole me to call yuh an let yuh no that ure beer an watamellon are getting warm! An she wans yuh to put them corn cobs in the out house!
i guest that there are no white lazy criminals and illegal Nazi here
Willie1965...............I was sent to SS office to fix a problem. I had to ask if it was a SS office. It was filled with young girls with babies, Mexicans, Blacks and Whites. Oh, there were also a couple of elderly people. The lazy losers were represented with all races of Americans and illegals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The government giveth and the government taketh away!
Paul Van Der Water - You would have to give Seniors a lot bigger increase to even begin to make up for inflation.
This is what happens anytime they give a raise then Medicare premiums go up, basically they want us to just trying to survive, which is all you can barely do.
Put the GOPERS back in charge and trust me you won't have to worry about any COLA raise, because they will totally eliminate SS and MEDICARE, they are currently buying stock in L.L. Bean, they figure when they are back in power the elderly are going to need tents and sleeping bags!!!
He who giveth, also taketh away!
went to lunch today with a senior (94) who is recovering from a serious fall in April of this year. had some internal bleeding, but when his wife gto him to the hospital, they tod her he was too old to operate on and they would just watch him to kep him comfortable. He had lost a lot of blood, but they refused to give him a transfusion because of his age. Four months later, he is just gettingback on his feet, but the system did not allow assistance thay you or i would have gotten. (Because of age).
This is the coming care from Obamacare and the extreme left wing of the Administration. If he had to go into long term care, the government will not support. Yet he must take his small social security increase and pay it back to healthcare he is not entitled to!!
You don't know what you're talking about. You republicans are so blindsided by mis-truths you'll believe anything Fox news will tell you.
Government has never paid for long term care except for Medicaid for the extremely poor and you have to spend down almost everything to qualify. This is not new with Obama, it has been that way for decades. And "Obamacare" doesn't decide who gets operated on or not; that's decided by the medical staff based on a number of factors including, yes, age but also efficacy of treatment for the condition. Americans want the best of everything right up to the end but aren't willing to pay for it. A very large percentage of healthcare costs are consumed by a very small number of patients, and not necessarily the elderly. Catastrophic illness at any age (think premies, for example) require intensive care and its concomittant expensive medical equipment and multiple healthcare providers (specialists, extra nursing staff, technicians etc.)
I've worked in a hospital; anesthesia in patients over 80 can be a death sentence in itself and many hospitals will not subject elderly patients to it, feeling that they will not survive the surgery
.
Of course medicare is going to go up, the government isn't going to give our elderly/retirees any help. It is truly sad the way this country treats its elderly in their golden years, do they eat, get medicine, pay utilities and have to go back to work.
also get their home stolen from the locals if you can't pay your F-ing taxes...Revolt is what we need...
I believe I have been revolted enough reading all these comments.
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The government giveth. The government taketh away. And they usually taketh more than they giveth. What a surpriseth.
All Government Officials from the President down should have their pensions reverted to S.S. & their medical benifits upon retireing changed from their high option plans to medicare. Problems will be solved pronto.
You better believe it!
If I just graduated from college where would I go in the private sector to find a career with healthcare and a pension?
If I only had a high school degree where in the private sector would I find a career with healthcare and a pension?
Used to be those healthcare and pensions were pretty common. Now profit rules.
Good pension plans and health care used to be pretty common because unions were pretty common. Now that unions are under attack and struggling to survive the greedy corporate CEO's are finding it easy to steal benefits from the working middle class and use the dollars to line their pockets. Of course not all the dollars go in their pockets... some of the dollars are used to buy politicians so they can get away with it.
An earnings test for medicare part d should be required. Many well to do seniors are free loading.
I have a quick solution for the government kick all the dope addicts and alcoholics off SSI The psychiatrists have made a killing putting these misfits on SSI thy then get Medicaid to pay the shrinks so the more they put on the more money they make
Expected this. I say get rid of the fraud and we'd be better off.
this is a f'n joke, right!
Unfortunately I had all my retirement tied up in real estate. The one asset that would resist inflation? I am on the verge of bankruptcy, and will lose everything I worked all my life for. Thanks Congress and bankers for your stupidity in allowing me to be stupid with you.
Put all your eggs in one basket -- and watch that basket!
MARK TWAIN, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
Floretta - Real estate USED TO BE one of the investments that was secure to have. Where are your eggs? Or do you even have any?
This is more like a case of buying votes from seniors.
In a desperate attempt to get re-elected Obarry bribes the poor with money from China.
PAID: As opposed to buying $$$ from the Kock Brothers???
paidmyfee, seniors have been getting SS COLA, with occasional interruptions, for decades. What is a bit unusual is not the fact that we are getting one this year, but that we went two years in a row without one.
Ozzie, I don't think the Koch brothers, the greatest benefactors of the GOP, have to worry about SS benefits...they got plenty from the Ayatollahs and they are now busy spending the profits they made from sponsors of terrorism to elect Republican candidates!
paidmyfee: Surly you are educated enough to know that the President does not say what the COLA will or will not be. Maybe you're not, you sound like a far right wing loony. It has nothing to do with elections. The rates are set by inflation. Read up a little.