No increase in 2011 Social Security benefits, but a $250 check possible

2011 will be the second consecutive year that Social Security recipients won't get any cost-of-living increase in their monthly checks.

They might, however, get a bit of relief in the form of a $250 payment.

First, the bad news about continuing flat Social Security benefits.

January 2010 marked the first time since automatic cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, calculations began in 1975 that recipients of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Administration Pension and Disability Compensation and Railroad Retirement benefits did not receive a hike in their government checks.

Continued stagnation of these benefits will continue in 2011. There won't be an increase when January 2011 rolls around.

In both 2010 and 2011 the problem for benefits recipients is low inflation. When consumer prices remain low, there is no COLA. Calculated Risk provides a detailed analysis of what goes into the COLA calculation.

Now for the potential good news.

The Seniors Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 5987) would give those who get Social Security benefits a one-time $250 payment.

The money would go to retirees and disabled individuals, both civilian and veterans, who get government checks.

Actually, the bill was introduced months before official COLA news was announced by the Social Security Administration on Friday, Oct. 15. 

Back in July when Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) introduced the Seniors Protection Act, he said it was designed to help folks who rely on Social Security cope with no COLA increase.

"Our seniors who depend on their very modest Social Security benefits worry about meeting their basic day-to-day expenses," said Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.). The one-time payment, which would represent less than two percent of the average annual Social Security benefit, would help them meet these expenses.

Pomeroy also noted that to avoid increasing the federal deficit, when he and his House colleagues (127 of whom cosponsor H.R. 5987) consider the bill, it "will include the necessary offsets to comply with the PAYGO law." 

Look for Pomeroy to push the Seniors Protection Act when Congress returns to Washinton in November.

Related posts:

• Schedule M errors cropping up
• Retiree $250 stimulus checks on the way
• IRS still looking for 5M rebate recipients
• More retiree rebates on tap?
• Stimulus rebate confusion continues

Want to tell your friends about this blog post? Click the Tweet This or Digg This buttons below or use the Share This icon to spread the word via e-mail, Facebook and other popular applications. Thanks!

 

Comments

[Liz]

I received the check for my kids, and I was SO happy to get it!!! Can we stop blaming obama for everything? My goodness, who do we know who would have done a better job than he did at this jncture in our history? It was the worst possible time to be president on EVERY turn. Can we give the guy a tiny break every now and then? He's just a human being, sheesh!

[Lisa]

...here we go AGAIN

[maggie sullivan]

geeesh stop already its bothe democrats and republicans are in this for what they can get,,,, all be it if there is to be no more ssi then kindly quit taking it out of the working folks checks let them invest,, or spend as they see fit,, for the rest of us who have paid into to it all of our lives we have earned it,,,, if there is to be no more then i want mine in one lump sum please,,,maybe it will take care of me for the rest of my life,,if its a short one,,

[Linda Bressette]

my comment is for all on social security...how can the government even think of stopping the social security benefits? there are so many disabled people like myself who are living on so little....i make less than $1000.00 permonth. I have a disablilty that will not allow me to work. because i am a caucasian woman....i cannot get even $40.00 a month to help with groceries. I will probably not get fuel assistance this year....thanks to the government. So i will either freeze, starve...or die because i cannot get extra help with my medical bills to pay for my insurance that we are required to have and have to pay the monthly premium....sure its only $110. per month but thats alot of money when you cannot by groceries, or oil....THANKS TO OUR GOVERNMENT....THE HOME OF THE FREE...FREE TO STARVE,FREEZE OR?

[Kim]

My fiance is 48 years old and has already worked enough to be able to get $1400 SSI if he was at the required age of 70.But Instead he receives $829 a month disability pay for the last 1 1/2 years.
He has been on oxygen therapy 24/7 for the last 1 1/2 years due to his lungs being exposed to methanol 10 years before while he was a hazmat worker checking a tank at a work site.
Now this All happened because the company's big bosses had silenced all the alarms for the leak of the methanol gas because they wanted to get back online and make their $750k every 15 minutes . But they failed to inform the 4 guys who had already went into the tank about the leak until it was too late.This company would rather pay to put off going to court than pay off the 4guys who have will have health problems which will eventually kill them. The company even acknowledged by making a offer of $150k but that wouldn't cover their ongoing medical bills. My fiances monthly medical bills are $4k a month and Now every 6 months he has to pay the first $120 for his spendown because they say he makes $20 too much a month , since Obama care went into effect.Now you wouldn't think it should be to hard to prove to medicaid that he owes $120 since his oxygen and meds are $4k a month.But it took 5 months and him going into the hospital after running out of the real expensive meds we couldn't afford. for the caseworkers to finally reinstate his medical.But now he has another hospital bill for$32k . And I provided them a bill as to proof he owed at least the $120 within 45 days after they said he no longer had insurance . but they informed us 2 months later that it wasn't a detailed enough bill, My fiance has the equivelant to about a 1/4 of a lung for each lungs Or the lungs of a 168 year old man.Luckily he's too stubborn to die like that greedy multi million dollar company is probably hoping he'll do.
But neither Obama or the republicans or some of the Wa.State DSHS caseworkers give a damn aboutb the seniors or the disabled people get the help quickly that they should have available to them. Especially the seniors Since they have paid into the system all the years they worked

[Carney]

Ok first of all this $250. is a drop in a very large bucket for the federal government and I dont know who said prices have not gone up, they must have been sleep for the last two years. Not to mention the price of gas and these terriable co-pays on medications. I am not a senior but I am disabled and i pay a lot of my check in medications, and such. I actually have it better then most and I have it hard. I have an underage daughter that lives with me, no support form the father, and we get a housing subsidy and we still dont have enough money to buy her cheap cloths or for her to do anything or go anywhere. im just saying give the people who raised us and took care of us a break they, we need that $250 to pay bills its not like it will be sitting in a bank collecting intrest and were living off the intrest or we will use it for a month long European vacation or anything this money is used for the raping utilitiy company or food or for our overpriced crappy apartments. Republicans need to shut up they couldnt survive ONE day in our lives.. They are batsh** crazy anyway.

[Tyrone Buyrger]

Things are horrible and they won't get better until that fraud Obama is out of office. I rue the day I voted for him. Biggest mistake in my life.

[shelia]

amy. one day you will be on social security and you will see for yourself, i worked for 30 years and am now on disability i have medicine i have to have every month or i will die. so i do without other things, you never get what you pay into social security and you pay into ss for your future, but you know what ................we havent recieved a raise in 2 years now, and when i could work i sure didnt complain about what seniors and disabled americans recieved

[BobM]

This is rape plain and simple of our seniors. Two years in a row we go without a COLA and Obama following it with sorry but I will ask for a stimulus for you to shut us up knowing that there will never be one. People are still hoping that have no idea it has already been shot down for 2011 at least they did not wait until May like last year to tell us.

Now here is something no one is talking about and I urge everyone to start posting this everywhere so it gets attention and demand a answer.

Where is the money from all the Illegal's in the U.S. that is being taken out of thier checks using someone else's SS number???
There are billions of dollars (EVERY YEAR!!!) in the U.S. of unclaimed taxes, and 86 percent of that money is because it cannot be claimed by those using bogus documentation. And the goverment knows this we are not living in the dark ages, a red flag comes up especially since 911 everytime a duplicate SS number is used. But they are keeping these Billions and not telling us. Federal , State, SS, SDI, Local Taxes, FDCI, where is this money?

But we cannot get a few cents on a dollar which is usually less than 4 cents a year raise!! Congress got a $3,000 raise but tells us we do not get one?

Where is the money President Obama that you know is there from the Illegals you allow to fraud us and use our Social Security Numbers, which by the way we never get credit for the hours so that shows right there you knew all the time it was not us???

Get this out and ask why we are being targeted as seniors. Gas here in Northern California is $4.34 and rising daily, a loaf of breat $5.00, ,milk $4.99 a gallon, and the homeless over 12,000 on the streets in the freezing rain. TWELVE THOUSAND!! a quarter of them seniors. Are you next???

[Kathy Cann]

Because prices are not the same! Don't forget the seniors of today paid into the system all their lives.

[Shirley Douglass]

Its sad that the ones on ssi and ss have to be hit they can hardly make it now they struggle and that $250.00 would help some.but it seems the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.and the elderly get left out all together.

[Adam]

any young workers that complain about elderly n older ss recipients,just wait you young advantage having bastards,the pendellum is swinging,you'll be in the underappreciated demographic soon enough,its called karma you jarheads!

[nor_crr@yahoo.com]

this is sad ssi ss they dont get the 250 the rich get all the breaks some thing is not right we fight the war the rich didnt do shit so we better get the 250 more money next i vote be other perosn go help us on ssi ty

[annna]

republicans go away u our rude selfish self centerd people who dont help our world u our all the reason why our world hurts right now pluss makeing ssi people suffer living on bread and water while the rich kicks back and wathches us poor suffer lol republicans u will all get what is comming to u guys soon.....

[annna]

obama is a east of time in this world ssi shoould go up we poor folks suffer why the rich get there gold fork and shrimp republicans need to dissapear they our scum of the earth all u republicans our nothing to our society.
Goverment congress who ever you our needs to riase ssi checks here in oregon 600 bucks cant get far ecsp. in rent and we have to pay alot for or medications now co-pay thanks to u guys.