Warren County retirees will join about 53 million other senior citizens across America in welcoming the announced 2.8% average increase in their Social Security benefits, effective in January.

The word “average” is important in this editorial because individual increases could be above or below the Social Security Administration’s announcement that the average monthly check next year will be $2,064, up $56 from this year.

However, buried or absent among some of the increase announcements has been the fact that the standard Medicare Part B premium will be increasing by $21.50 a month at the same time that the new benefits amounts will be taking place, meaning that recipients will not actually be receiving in hand a significant amount of what the increase announcement seems to promise.

That’s nothing new, based on what has happened in prior years, but Medicare Part B coverage is a bargain from whatever vantage point it is viewed.

Many seniors lament the fact that coverage isn’t free. Those individuals need to put aside the human nature of wanting something for free and acknowledge the big picture and the burdensome financial challenge that Medicare shoulders every day of every year.

Nevertheless, recipients are correct that the annual increase seldom addresses fully the affordability crises seniors routinely experience — for many seniors, especially regarding health care-related, food and energy costs.

Quoting from the Oct. 25-26 Altoona Mirror article “Social Security benefits get boost,” AARP polling shows that older Americans are increasingly struggling to keep up in today’s economy. The poll states that only 22% of Americans over age 50 agree that a COLA (cost-of-living increase) of right around 3% for Social Security recipients is enough to keep up with rising prices, while 77% disagree.”

The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) states that sentiment is consistent across political party affiliations that older adults continue to face challenges covering basic expenses.

In an article in its Oct. 25-26 edition, the Wall Street Journal explained that the annual COLA is based on a U.S. Department of Labor inflation measure that tracks how much Americans paid for a range of goods and services in the third quarter, compared with a year ago.

“Inflation this year has been far below the surge that pushed the COLA to 8.7% in 2023, its highest in more than four decades,” the Journal said. “But the modest increase in the COLA for next year reflects a recent uptick in inflation that has Americans paying more for items including coffee, ground beef, produce, electricity and used cars and trucks.”

The COLA is calculated using the Labor Department’s consumer price index from July to September.

Government data examined by the Journal produced the finding that, among Americans ages 65 and older, 40% rely on Social Security for half or more of their income, and an AARP poll found that 72% of adults ages 50 and older said they would need at least a 5% annual boost in benefits to keep up with rising prices.

Unless the government shutdown chaos currently underway in Washington derails the traditional notices sent to Social Security recipients about their next year’s benefit, that notice will be arriving by mail in early December and recipients will then learn quickly how they stack up against the $2,064 average monthly check.

Regardless, no doubt many American seniors, including some in Blair, wonder often why their representatives in Washington don’t receive pay increases so small, based on the work that they can’t seem to finish.