I petition for emergency action to change the Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2010:
• The Social Security COLA should not be calculated from the consumer price index (CPI), since the CPI is based on the purchases of young urban workers and does not reflect the actual expenses of senior citizens.
• Even when CPI-based inflation is very low, the expenses that form the backbone of senior citizens’ budgets – medical insurance, prescription drugs, fuel – continue to rise alarmingly.
• The federal government itself recognizes the inequity of a CPI-based COLA by calculating a senior-specific CPI formula, which it never uses, that shows our cost of living rises faster than that of most young people.
• When Medicare Part B premiums exceed the Social Security COLA, about a quarter of Social Security recipients, including new enrollees and low-income beneficiaries, will have their benefits reduced, creating a group of second-class beneficiaries who receive substantially less from Social Security than they are entitled to.
• New legislation introduced by Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina (H.R. 3557) would provide an emergency COLA increase for 2010 and help to prevent a large inequity as well as protect the Social Security benefits of all beneficiaries.
• The Guaranteed COLA for Seniors Act introduced by Representative Eliot Engel (H.R. 4193), which is based on a different formula--Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI- E)-- would guarantee a 3% COLA for seniors. This is exactly what America’s seniors need to keep up with inflation.
At a time when my medical costs are going up, prescription drug costs are rising, and Medigap premiums are dramatically increasing in cost, this correction is essential. I am gravely concerned about the effect that past underpayments of the COLA are having not only on today’s spending power, but also on the future erosion of our spending power and the creation of a group of second-class beneficiaries.
I call on you to support H.R. 3557 and H.R. 4193 to manage this emergency and to consider long-term action for fair and accurate Social Security COLAs.
