New bill on Capitol Hill aims to improve Social Security benefits for seniors: What you need to know

A study published by the Senior Citizens League (SCL), an organization that advocates for economic justice for seniors, shows that Social Security benefits have declined since 2000.more than thirty percent of their purchasing power (…) largely due to inadequate COLAs (cost of living adjustment) and rising healthcare costs.” The organization has called on Congress to address the issue through a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) to better measure how price changes affect the goods and services most consumed by seniors. The SCL is in constant contact with seniors and often questions them about their economic well-being.

In December, the organization reported a survey that “more than two-thirds of older people say that their monthly budget for essentials such as housing, food and medicine is 10 percent higher than a year ago.” When Social Security benefits can’t cover rapidly rising food and medication costs, for example This can have serious consequences, as some seniors eat less or ration their medications. Social Security was created to ensure that workers and their families could retire with dignity, and the SCL’s findings remind us that this mission is slipping away for many older Americans.

However, the Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act would address the problems activists have highlighted with the current metric used to calculate the Annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego introduced the bill to the House of Representatives after Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) drafted it.

The bill was also supported in the Senate by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The bill has a better chance of passing in the Senate, where Democrats currently have a slim majority. However, it is virtually impossible to bring the bill to a vote in the House of Representatives, because the Republican Party determines which pieces of legislation the members of the House will vote on.

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What would the new law require?

If passed into law, the bill would require the creation of a law CPI-E and its use to determine annual COLA. The CPI-E will be used if it results in a larger benefit increase than the current CPI for urban wage earners and white-collar workers (CPI-W), which is currently used for the same purpose. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics would be required to publish monthly consumer price index reports on the CPI-E, just as is currently the case for the other variants of the CPI that examine price differences for different packages of goods and services.