COLAs have flat - lined at unprecedented lows over the past 7 years, averaging just 1.2 percent a year. That's less than half the 3 percent that COLAs averaged from 2000 to 200"The low growth in Social Security benefits since 2009 has a significant impact on overall retirement income of anyone who has been retired since that year," Johnson says. "For people retired over the past seven years, monthly benefits in 2016 are today 13 percent lower than if inflation had been the more typical 3 percent per year," Johnson explains. "In dollar amounts, that's 0 per month lower for someone with average benefits," she adds. "This is huge and this loss of anticipated retirement income compounds every year causing people to spend through retirement savings far more quickly than planned, " she says. "Over the course of a 25 or 30 year retirement, it reduces anticipated Social Security income by tens of thousands of dollars," Johnson says. "Unfortunately this financial impact is not fully understood by the vast majority of the public and Members of Congress — The Senior Citizens League is working to change that," Johnson notes. .As seniors know from experience, even as we face ever-higher prescription drug prices every year, we face increased Medicare premiums but also reduced Social Security COLAs. .We understand that our proposal may not be the most perfect solution to the injustice; however, it stands a much better chance of getting passed in Congress and is the best possible solution we know of. .The decision is complicated by significant trade offs that can reduce or even eliminate the money you are hoping to receive. Here are some factors that you need to consider. .Last year a premium support plan that passed in the House prompted a firestorm of opposition from seniors and critics concerned that the plan cut federal spending too much — shifting too great a portion of costs -- and would make Medicare unaffordable for beneficiaries. But premium support itself is nothing new, nor would it "end Medicare as we know it." To the contrary, seniors already know it, and like it. Medicare operates two premium support programs — Medicare Part D, and Medicare Advantage. .Important work is also being done on the federal, state, and local levels to build awareness and advance medical research. As part of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's, my colleagues and I have been working to address the growth of Alzheimer's. One piece of legislation that I am pushing is the Alzheimer's Accountability Act, which would increase coordination between the National Institute of Health, Congress, and the White House regarding the resources necessary to help treat Alzheimer's. Another bill, the Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer's Act would help improve early diagnosing of Alzheimer's and strengthen support services for patients and their families. .Survey participants also support making changes to modestly increase benefits by using a senior CPI, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), to determine the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA), and to provide a boost of about per month. TSCL is meeting with Members of Congress to enact these changes. With 73% of survey participants reporting that their household expenses in 2015 rose by more than a month, while average Social Security benefits are stuck around ,250 due to low or no COLAs, TSCL is making a strong case that older Americans need a raise! .Social Security uses the 35 years of highest earnings to calculate benefits, and Social Security statistics confirm women have lower benefits than men. The average Social Security primary insurance amount for women is 26% lower than that of men — ,297 for women vs. ,747 for men. Some proposals have suggested giving Social Security credits to unpaid caregivers to fill in the zeros in Social Security earnings records during years of family caregiving. This would tend to boost initial retirement benefits. .Based on the growth rate of the Consumer Price Index for Workers (CPI-W) over past 12 months, I'm projecting a COLA in the vicinity of 3.6% for 201But Congress may take action that would slow the growth of the COLA. Deficit reduction plans are likely to call for switching to the "chained" CPI, a move that TSCL feels would further undermine the purchasing power of benefits. The difference between the CPI-W and chained COLA has averaged about 0.3 percentage point since 2000, but that's not the case this year. In fact, if the switch were to affect the COLA payable in 2012, seniors would get a COLA of about 2.8% — a cut of more than 20%.