A Little Something Extra? A very little something.
"WASHINGTON - In a yearly ritual that dates back more than three decades, nearly 49 million Americans will be getting a little something extra in their Social Security checks come January. " (from Social Security Increase is Due, L.A. Daily News, October 20, 2006).
Some of you may have read my blog entry last year when we got a whopping four percent COLA increase (Social Security's 'Generous' Cost of Living Increase for 2006), and will remember that poor Mabel, like most of us on SSA retirement or disability, can't afford to live on it without drawing from ever dwindling savings...or living in grossly substandard housing or doing without necessities.
Well, this year, despite that booming Republican economy we keep hearing about, despite the ever increasing cost of fuel, food, health care (including the all too many things that Medicare does not pay for, like vision exams and glasses, dental care, and the vast majority of my medical care), rent, taxes, and basic maintenance, let alone luxuries like occasionally going to the movies or out to dinner with friends, gift giving on birthdays and holidays, charitable donations, and other such extravagances: the "little something extra", the 2007 COL adjustment is 3.3 percent.
For the average SSA retirement and disability recipient, that will work out to $33 a month.
Wow.
Let's see how long my $33 will last.
$33.00 minus:
$ 5.00 - increase Medicare Part B premium (to $93.50/month)
$11.85 - the 106% increase in my Part D premium *
$ 6.00 - the increase in the Part B Deductible, to $131**
----------
$10.15 - net increase, which will be eaten up as soon as the insurance companies increase their per-prescription co-pays for 2007 for both generic and brand drugs.
* up from $11.25 to $23.10
** up from $125 in 2006, which was up from $100 in 2005
Gee, thanks. You'll excuse me if I'm a little ferklempt at your generosity (and a little appalled at the vast disconnect in what is happening in the real world versus the world of the bean counters who figure out what the COL is and what the COLA should thus be).
But, hey! Let's keep providing free health care and other services to the legions of illegals in this country who are expected to send $60 BILLION home to Mexico and much of the rest of Latin America in 2007, more than double the amount they sent home in 2005.
Some of you may have read my blog entry last year when we got a whopping four percent COLA increase (Social Security's 'Generous' Cost of Living Increase for 2006), and will remember that poor Mabel, like most of us on SSA retirement or disability, can't afford to live on it without drawing from ever dwindling savings...or living in grossly substandard housing or doing without necessities.
Well, this year, despite that booming Republican economy we keep hearing about, despite the ever increasing cost of fuel, food, health care (including the all too many things that Medicare does not pay for, like vision exams and glasses, dental care, and the vast majority of my medical care), rent, taxes, and basic maintenance, let alone luxuries like occasionally going to the movies or out to dinner with friends, gift giving on birthdays and holidays, charitable donations, and other such extravagances: the "little something extra", the 2007 COL adjustment is 3.3 percent.
For the average SSA retirement and disability recipient, that will work out to $33 a month.
Wow.
Let's see how long my $33 will last.
$33.00 minus:
$ 5.00 - increase Medicare Part B premium (to $93.50/month)
$11.85 - the 106% increase in my Part D premium *
$ 6.00 - the increase in the Part B Deductible, to $131**
----------
$10.15 - net increase, which will be eaten up as soon as the insurance companies increase their per-prescription co-pays for 2007 for both generic and brand drugs.
* up from $11.25 to $23.10
** up from $125 in 2006, which was up from $100 in 2005
Gee, thanks. You'll excuse me if I'm a little ferklempt at your generosity (and a little appalled at the vast disconnect in what is happening in the real world versus the world of the bean counters who figure out what the COL is and what the COLA should thus be).
But, hey! Let's keep providing free health care and other services to the legions of illegals in this country who are expected to send $60 BILLION home to Mexico and much of the rest of Latin America in 2007, more than double the amount they sent home in 2005.
posted by Melissa at 2:02 PM
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