PAX Centurion - September / October 2015

Page 52 • PAX CENTURION • September/October 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) BPPA Retired Patrolmen’s Division News No benefits increase expected for Social Security recipients in 2016 BPPA RETIRED PATROLMEN’S DIVISION MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Date:_ ____________________________________________ Name:____________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________ City, State, Zip:_ ___________________________________ Home Phone:_ ____________________________________ Cell Phone:_ ______________________________________ Date of Appointment:______________________________ Date of Retirement:________________________________ Email:_ ___________________________________________ Annual Dues are $24.00. The year runs from March to March. Please mail this application and $24.00 annual dues to the: BPPA Retired Patrolmen’s Division 9-11 Shetland Street, Boston, MA 02119 F or just the third time in 40 years, millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans, and federal retirees can expect no increase in benefits next year, unwelcome news for more than one-fifth of the nation’s population. They can blame low gas prices. By law, the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation, which is being dragged down by lower prices at the pump. The government is scheduled to announce the COLA— or lack of one — on Thursday, when it releases the Consumer Price Index for September. Inflation has been so low this year that economists say there is little chance the September numbers will produce a benefit increase for next year. Prices actually have dropped from a year ago, according to the inflation measure used for the COLA. ‘‘It’s a very high probability that it will be zero,’’ said economist Polina Vlasenko, at theAmerican Institute for Economic Research. ‘‘Other prices — other than energy —would have to jump. It would have to be a very sizable increase that would be visible.’’ Congress enacted automatic increases for Social Security benefi- ciaries in 1975, when inflation was high and there was a lot of pres- sure to regularly raise benefits. Since then, increases have averaged 4 percent a year. Only in 2010 and 2011 have there been no increases. ‘This would affect all beneficiaries. This kind of an increase is unprecedented.’ Tricia Neuman, Kaiser Family Foundation, on projected jumps in the Medicare Part B deductible: In all, the COLA affects payments to more than 70 millionAmeri- cans. Almost 60 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses, and chil- dren get Social Security benefits. The average monthly payment is $1,224. The COLA also affects benefits for about 4 million disabled veter- ans, 2.5 million federal retirees and their survivors, and more than 8 million people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor. Many people who get SSI also receive Social Security. Carol Mead of Montrose, Pa., said she and her husband were counting on the Social Security COLA. ‘‘My husband is working just so we can pay our bills,’’ said Mead, a retired land-use administrator. ‘‘He’s 70 years old, and he’s still working in a stone quarry. He’s told me a number of times that he thinks he’s going to have to work until the day he dies.’’ More bad news: The lack of a COLA means older people could face higher health care costs. Most have their Medicare Part B premiums for outpatient care deducted directly from their Social Security payments, and the an- nual cost-of-living increase is usually enough to cover any rise in premiums. When that doesn’t happen, a longstanding federal ‘‘hold harmless’’ law protects the majority of beneficiaries from having their Social Security payments reduced. But that leaves about 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries on the hook for a premium increase that otherwise would be spread among all. Those who would pay the higher premiums include 2.8 million new beneficiaries, 1.6 million whose premiums are not deducted from their Social Security payments, and 3.1 million people with higher incomes. Their premiums could jump by about $54 a month, or 50 percent. Those with higher incomes would pay even larger amounts. States also would feel a budget impact because they pay part of the Medicare premium for about 10 million low-income beneficiaries. All beneficiaries would see their Part B annual deductible for outpatient care jump by $76, to an estimated $223. The deductible is the annual amount patients pay before Medicare kicks in. ‘‘This would affect all beneficiaries,’’ said Tricia Neuman of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. ‘‘This kind of an increase is unprecedented.’’ Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would freeze Medicare’s Part B premium and deductible for 2016, but its prospects are uncertain. White House spokeswoman Katie Hill said, ‘‘We share the goal of keeping Medicare’s premiums affordable, and are exploring all options.’’ By law, the cost-of-living adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index for UrbanWage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI- W, a broad measure of consumer prices generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The COLA is calculated by comparing consumer prices in July, By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press