The study examined the increase in costs of 39 key items between 2000 and January 201The items were chosen because they are typical of the costs of most Social Security recipients, and include expenditures like Medicare Part B premium, that are not measured by the index currently used to calculate the COLA. Of the 39 items analyzed, 26 increased faster than the COLA over the same period. "This study illustrates why Congress should enact legislation to provide a more fair and adequate COLA," says The Senior Citizens' Executive Director, Shannon Benton. "To put it in perspective, for every 0 worth of groceries a retiree household could afford in 2000, they can only buy worth today," Benton adds..This is hard. Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic changes it has brought to all our lives is hard. But for seniors, the group most vulnerable to severe, and even fatal cases of the disease, it is very hard..Which Repairs Are Worth Doing Before Selling A Home?.Rest assured the Consumer Price Index does include food and fuel. Without those two items, the CPI would grow much more slowly than it already does and so would your annual-cost-of-living adjustment..The spending bill now moves to the Senate, where its future is uncertain. Leaders are not sure that they will have the votes needed to pass the bill in its current form, and many are predicting that the President will end up signing a "clean" spending bill into law at the end of February..The blueprint also calls for billion in Social Security cuts, and it would fully repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the House-passed American Health Care Act. That change would leave millions of older Americans not yet eligible for Medicare without health insurance coverage due to high costs. It would also impact around 11 million Medicare beneficiaries who are also enrolled in the Medicaid program many of whom are patients in costly nursing home facilities..Three Bills Gain Support.The Republican Platform.Another initiative announced on Monday will improve the quality and safety requirements for nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. The new rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will update the standards that have been in place for nearly twenty-five years. According to the administration, it will "improve quality of life, enhance person-centered care and services for residents in nursing homes, improve resident safety, and bring these regulatory requirements into closer alignment with current professional standards."
