2012 Social Security COLA Increase – Medicare to Take a Large Bite
Before the celebrations regarding the 3.6% increase in Social Security payments for 2012 following the COLA announcement, recipients have been warned that the good news may not in fact be nearly as good as it seems. In fact, in a staggering number of cases, all increases to their premiums or at least the vast majority may well be eaten up by increases in Medicare payments.
In the same way that the COLA has not seen an increase in three years now, exactly the same can be said when it comes to Medicare Part B payments. As such, it is fully expected that alongside the announcement of increased Social Security payments, there will also be an increase in Medicare Part B premiums coming along at the same time.
As such, the 3.6% increase could be all but wiped out for millions who had been expecting a cash boost.
The modest increase was already being argued by some as insufficient to cover perpetually increasingly grocery and gas prices, once gain calling into question the way the COLA is calculated. It has been said that he current formula does not efficiently take into account the real needs and spending patterns of seniors, who have been forced to live with 2009 level payments in spite of annual price increases across the board.
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