Inflation is an unavoidable and often fickle facet of life, and for those living on fixed incomes such as Social Security, the repercussions of growing costs will only compound over time. In order to help Social Security benefits retain at least some of its buying power in the face of inflation, benefit amounts are adjusted annually to account for year over year inflation hikes. This is known as the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
On October 24th, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that all benefits will be increased by 2.8% in the new year. This would translate to around $56 more in the average benefit check. Unfortunately, Medicare premiums are also projected to face a hefty increase in 2026, which would effectively bring down the value of the COLA increase.
Recently, the common view held by both advocates and seniors is that the COLA does not provide enough financial relief to cover rising costs. As such, a group of Democratic senators are proposing to increase benefits by $200 for six months. This increase would apply to beneficiaries of both Social Security and Veteran Affairs. The group of senators have drafted this proposal because they feel that the modest 2.8% COLA increase will not sufficiently cover the rising prices of goods and services. Here is what you need to know.
Proposal for $200 benefit increase
On Thursday morning, a group of Democratic senators are planning to introduce a proposal that would add an additional $200 to Social Security and Veteran Affairs benefit checks for a period of six months. The proposed bill is called the Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act, and it is being backed by a number of Democratic senators. The list of senators backing this proposal to increase benefits includes, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Alex Padilla of California, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer of New York, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont.
This emergency increase of $200 will boost all benefit payments until July 2026, as per the senators’ proposal. The increase will apply to just about all benefits types, including Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, railroad retirement, veteran disability compensation and veteran pensions.
The proposal has come about as a result of the 2.8% COLA increase that had been announced by the SSA last Friday on October 24th. According to Senator Elizabeth Warren, the increase is not enough as costs continue to skyrocket.
In a social media post on October 24th, Warren wrote the following regarding the 2.8% COLA increase: “Donald Trump is building a $300 million luxury ballroom and sending $40 BILLION to Argentina. But when the cost of groceries, health care, utilities — just about everything — is skyrocketing, America’s seniors only get another $56 a month. That’s not enough in Trump’s economy.”
When speaking of the proposed bill in a statement, Warren referred to it as an “emergency lifeline for seniors struggling to afford Trump’s tariffs and rising inflation.”
Additionally, in a different statement, Senator Chuck Schumer also stated that, “the Social Security COLA is simply not reflective of the current reality for seniors as they see their bank accounts shrinking.”
Another bill to boost benefits has been proposed
On Monday, another group of Democrats proposed the Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act. This proposal aims to change the formula that is used for the COLAs calculation. Currently, the COLA is determined using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
The proposed bill aims to change the formula so that it uses the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly instead of the CPI-W. Advocacy groups such as The Senior Citizens League have also long been calling for the COLA to be calculated using the CPI-E as it is more reflective of the costs faced by seniors.