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Social Security’s Diminishing Ability to Keep Pace
With national health care spending growing at an average rate of 5.5% for the next decade, it’s easy to see why the recent trend in Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)–1.1% average for the past five years–is cause for concern among the System’s more than 61 million beneficiaries. InvestmentNews Contributing Editor Mary Beth Franklin puts a fine point on this concern with her opening statement in a March 20 post, “Automatic cost-of-living adjustments are supposed to help Social Security benefits keep pace with inflation, but years of low inflation and rising Medicare costs are threatening the adequacy of a key component of seniors’ income.”
Ms. Franklin examines the population segments impacted most severely by accelerating medical costs, noting that health care costs consume more than a third of the total Social Security income received by a majority of beneficiaries and explaining the affect of rapidly increasing Medicare Part B premiums.
Read Ms. Franklin’s post here…
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