Social Security Increase: No, eldergays, Biden didn't forget you

Middle class taxpayers see nearly 6% decrease in take home pay.

And how much are they going to jack up the Medicare premium in 2022? For the poors like me, it will probably be a wash.

[quote] Middle class taxpayers see nearly 6% decrease in take home pay.

Take that up with your employer

[quote] And how much are they going to jack up the Medicare premium in 2022? For the poors like me, it will probably be a wash.

If only you boomers had allowed for everyone to enjoy single payer healthcare, there would be no such thing as a "Medicare premium." But, you voted enmasse to be sure no one else gets to enjoy what you do--so deal with it.

6% on the average check of $1,543 is paltry $92.58.

Much better than nothing, but it's not really all that much.

The only way to make up for this will be to raise payroll taxes. FML. And if probably won’t be around in 20 years when I need it.

Can you add and subtract, too, r5?

[quote] The only way to make up for this will be to raise payroll taxes. FML. And if probably won’t be around in 20 years when I need it.

Even if nothing we done and the Social Security trust is depleted in 2033, it would pay out 75% of what it's paying now.

As a beloved program that has lifted millions out of poverty, SS is going nowhere. The payroll tax limit has to be lifted. Even the GOP will come aboard when the time gets closer and the elderly will demand action

R5, instead of complaining now, maybe you should have saved more when you were working.

Instead you took big vacations and went to gay resorts.

Most raises in the private sector are about 3% so this is good.

OP It's determined by SSA and COLA not POTUS. If Consumer Price Index was not so high due to inflation, SS increase would not be so high.

Good man Joe!

R11, yet Biden got blamed when it didn't go up fast enough

The President does not decide the increases or the lack thereof to this programme. The Social Security Administration decides those.

He gets absolutely no credit for this, nor does the President hey the blame when the COLA doesn't increase much.

The issue the President has to contend with te SS is its long-term funding, the solutions for which the Republicans will fight tooth and nail.

Remember when Dubya promised to put SS in a lockbox?

R14, yet DLers had no issue blaming Biden because SS didn't go up immediately

Too many people chasing too few goods caused this, not Unmighty Joe.

Inflation went up 26% and Biden gave them 6%. Well done.

R4, that's what's so nauseating about many seniors (not all). They complain about the cost of their meds and everything else involved in healthcare, then they go vote for Republicans.

It's like whining about being shot when you provided the gun to the shooter.

Bidens doing more in less than a year than has been done in the last, oh, since 2000. I'm actually surprised to hear myself say this. I was no big fan of his.

A cost of living adjustment only covers inflation. It’s theoretically a net gain of zero.

R17, inflation has occurred because people are spending again after a lockdown. It has nothing to do with Biden.

Plus, economists believe inflation is temporary. The SS increase is permanent.

The reckless spending spree by Congress during Covid and the infusion of cash into the economy has created substantial inflationary pressure.

R22, that "reckless spending spree" is what kept America afloat economically. Your 401k survived because of that spending

[quote] The reckless spending spree by Congress during Covid and the infusion of cash into the economy has created substantial inflationary pressure.

The spending was approved a year ago. Inflation is happening now because people are starting to spend again. More demand means higher prices. All will stabilize in a few months. It always does.

Guess what ? Its a LAW that ss has to go up based on inflation, yes the raise is higher than it was last year just shows that inflation is alot highwr than it was and its going to get worse. Funnyhow the gov can GIVE illegal immigrants free healthcate but they CHARGE THE ELDERLY ????

[quote]Can you add and subtract, too, [R5]?

As a matter of fact, yes, which is why I usually maxed out the annual SSI contribution each year by around April, so the deductions stopped.

The jump in energy prices this winter will be detrimental to the approval rating of Biden and the ruling party in Congress. Old people will remember their gas bill increase more than their COLA.

I found this.

[quote] The Medicare trustees report in August suggested that the estimated premium for Part B would go up $10 a month for 2022, driving the Part B premium to around $158.50 a month.

Thanks, R28. I still can't afford it, but good to know.

You old fucks are lucky we bother to pay in when we are expected to get 75% or less.

You young fucks would have been better off had you been aborted so your lives wouldn't be filled with such misery.

I think a more fair method would be for Medicare to increase at the same percentage SS increases, but only if the SS increase is over 3%. Any SS increase 3% or less should mean no increase in Medicare cost.

Now he needs to lower the age for Medicare, which he has talked about doing in the past. A lot of people would retire today and "get out of the way", if not for health insurance

Biden? That was a law from the Nixon era that automatically gives cost of living raises to SS.

.,.,

[quote] Funny how the gov can GIVE illegal immigrants free healthcate but they CHARGE THE ELDERLY ????

Illegals don't get free healthcare (except the basics--like vaccines) but the elderly do get free healthcare.

[quote] Remember when Dubya promised to put SS in a lockbox?

That was Al Gore. Dubya and the Repugs wanted to turn SS over to Wall St.

[quote]6% on the average check of $1,543 is paltry $92.58.

It's the largest increase in 38 years and it's the gift that keeps on giving.

[quote]Funny how the gov can GIVE illegal immigrants free healthcate[sic] but they CHARGE THE ELDERLY ????

Sweetheart, illegal immigrants aren't getting free plastic surgery on the UES. At most, they're sitting in some shitty ER for 6 hours getting shitty service - and all of them are working shit jobs.

[quote] but the elderly do get free healthcare.

Only the elderly with incomes low enough get free healthcare. If you don't qualify for Medicaid you have to pay for your Medicare (or private insurance) and any medigap policy out of your own pocket.

[quote] Only the elderly with incomes low enough get free healthcare. If you don't qualify for Medicaid you have to pay for your Medicare (or private insurance) and any medigap policy out of your own pocket.

Sure, but what you get back is 4 times what your paid into the system. That's called free healthcare.

[quote] Only the elderly with incomes low enough get free healthcare. If you don't qualify for Medicaid you have to pay for your Medicare (or private insurance) and any medigap policy out of your own pocket.

And this is exactly what the elderly keep voting for.

If we had Medicare for all, we'd all have "free" healthcare paid for by taxes. Instead the elderly, who are afraid they'll lose what they have if everyone gets it, strongly stands against Medicare for all.

[quote] Only the elderly with incomes low enough get free healthcare. If you don't qualify for Medicaid you have to pay for your Medicare (or private insurance) and any medigap policy out of your own pocket.

What the elderly get and what illegals get aren't even remotely comparable when it comes to healthcare. And interestingly, about half if illegals have jobs that take out Medicare taxes. They will never get to use the money they pay into the system. In fact, Medicare knows that quite well and has a line item in its budget for money from those who will never use Medicare.

By the time that COLA raise kicks in, the supplementary health care plans that everyone needs for the 20% that Medicare doesn't cover, will all raise their prices, ditto the prescription drug plans, and you add in the cost of energy - and those COLA raises will, in effect, evaporate.

They should have done 7.9% if those on SS are to have a prayer of really staying afloat instead of merely treading water. The impulse is always to do too little, when the courage to do enough would make all the difference in the world.

"Keeping up" with inflation is a mirage for people on SS.

Wait till those heating bills start pouring in and across the globe (anyone see the TIMES article on Lebanon this morning?) the rage builds as governments insist they're really on your side, the billionaires turn into trillionaires, the culture wars get bloodier, and Biden and the "Squad" put the last nails in the coffin of the mid-term elections.

R44, sorry, SS isn't supposed to cover your entire life.

Taxes already don’t cover all of Part A’s expenditures by the government. Medicare can’t be expanded. It will be better for people’s mental health if they get over the fantasy that it could be done.

Expanding Medicare would save $400 Billion a YEAR just on streamlining the paperwork.

The whole point of Medicare for All would be the money we send to private insurance would go to Medicare. Actually, 2/3rds of the amount we send to private insurance because we’d save at least 30% and cover everyone.

That 30% is profits and administrative costs of private insurance.

[Quote] Medicare can’t be expanded. It will be better for people’s mental health if they get over the fantasy that it could be done.

How every other developed country in the world has pretty much done that and spends far less per capita on healthcare must be a real mystery to you.

I was speaking with an old friend of mine yesterday and she said she recently got her new Part D (prescription plan) paperwork and her monthly rate for 2022 went down $1.20.

Wow, a whole 1.20? Now she can get that Hermes bag she's been eyeing.

I will never be able to afford to retire so none of that gubmint money stuff matters to me.

Wow, a whole 1.20?

Well when you consider that her rates had been going up every year $10 - $15, a $1.20 decrease actually does say something. She told me 3 years ago she had to change to another provider because her premium doubled.

[quote] How every other developed country in the world has pretty much done that and spends far less per capita on healthcare must be a real mystery to you.

I already know it can’t be done in the U.S., so it’s no mystery to me.

It can be done, it just won't be done because we have very stupid, hateful, poor people who have the audacity to be both greedy and delusional as to who they are when they cast votes for Republicans. We would absolutely have universal healthcare if no god damned Republican existed. Those fucking Republican officials incl. the "libertarian" ones have socialized care for themselves and their families. The people who vote for them screaming about "socialism" are too stupid live and I hope covid takes them out.

too stupid to* live

r54, whatever barriers exist, they are never going to go away. Meanwhile, realists can work on improving the system we have.

That’s about $150 per month for me, because I retired at 54 and filed for SS at 62. I won’t complain.

That $92 a month will help pay for rising gas prices. Thanks Joe for closing down the pipeline.

The pipeline was delivering oil that was going to be sold overseas, not the US

R49....why isn't your old friend enrolled in a Medicare advantage plan? I have United Health Care's AARP Advantage Plan - zero premiums, no co pays for primary MD visits, mail order pharmacy service that delivers all my meds (lisinopril, metoprolol, and atorvastatin) at no charge - my diazepam Rx is a whopping $2.94. $35 co pay to see a specialist (the only one I see is a cardiologist once a year). Plus they have a "Health and Wellness" catalog where you can order $50 worth of OTC meds/medical supplies every quarter, also mailed to your house. What is not to love? She needs to sit down with an independent agent as soon as possible.

R60, that's all great, until you will need something that Advantage Plan will not pay for (but regular Medicare will). If you're lucky it won't happen, but that's taking a big chance down the road. All these Advantage Plans have to find ways to make up for the money they're losing on the free premiums and all the other extras they give, and the main way is to cut the services they're willing to pay for. If your doctors orders a specific test or procedure but your AP doesn't agree with him, they can just say "well we won't pay for it".

Biden had nothing at all to do with it. It would have gone up the same if some vile Rethug were president. Those just living on SS will get next to nothing out of the 5.9, not 6%. Between inflation and Medicare premiums going through the roof, they'll still be worse off and those on SSI will still be living well below the poverty level, that Biden has everything to do with and he, and the Democrats, including the so called Progressives have thrown those desperately poor, sick, old, disabled people into the garbage, the same as Clinton and Obama did. Democrats are no better for the very, very poor than Rethugs are.

Yet Biden and the Democrats, including the Progressive caucus, are planning on giving an extra $10,000 (yes you read it right) to those making half a million a year if they spawn and drop cunt fruit. If u don't believe it search the LA Times for the recent article. Fuck the Democrats. I'd never vote for a Rethug so I'm just done voting. Until there is a very genuine Liberal 3rd party that doesn't hide behind the word Progressive I'm so done voting, so done!

R60 here...thankfully nothing like that has happened yet. This past June I was hospitalized overnight because of (what I thought) was rapid heartbeat (turned out to be anxiety based - thanks covid!) I went through the ER, had a CT of my lungs to rule out a possible covid emboli, the next day had a cardiac chemical stress test and a bunch of labs. Released after 23 hours - no preauthorization was required for anything. My portion of bill - $289. I went in for chest pain, and they just do what they do.

I haven't had sex EVER. I blame the Dems!

R60 Independent Insurance Agent.

[quote] that's all great, until you will need something that Advantage Plan will not pay for (but regular Medicare will).

Can someone who has a MA plan give an actual example that happened to them? I’d like to understand the downside. My mother had a MA plan and we didn’t have anything that wasn’t covered and she had services paid for in multiple regions of the country.

This thread proves these whiny bitches who were quiet when Trump did all his shenanigans will never be satisfied with Biden.

R66, can you tell me which MA she has because Aetna SUCKS

r68, it was a Florida Blue plan, so BCBS.

R60 again....I should mention that was the only time I ever had hospital services. The total bill was nearly $5K, and as I said, my portion was $289, and I did receive a separate bill a few weeks later from a radiology service, something like $150. That is the absolute most I have ever paid out of pocket since I enrolled in 2015. I don't understand people who are paying out of pocket for Part D - it's crazy.

My younger brother, who turned 65 this past April, thought he had died and gone to heaven when he enrolled this year. He had been paying something like $700 a MONTH for insurance for YEARS because he had gotten ONE cardiac stent at age 56. He had taken early retirement from Anheuser Busch when they were bought out, and thankfully he wasn't hurting for money, but still....!!!

I am NOT an independent insurance agent (ha!) but I was an RN for 40 years. My last job was as a case manager for Aetna and YES, they SUCKED OUT LOUD - I retired at 62 because of their hideous corrupt organization and have not regretted it for one second. DO NOT touch them with a TEN FOOT POLE! I know whereof I speak!

[quote] Medicare premiums going through the roof

Medicare premiums are going up but they're not going through the roof. They're increasing $10.00 for 2022. The average person will pay $158.50/mo for Medicare. That's not bad at all. I know people who pay over $1000.00/mo for their health insurance.

And yet boomers will continue to stay in the workforce well beyond age where they can actually contribute anything, blocking people who need jobs.

[quote] Can someone who has a MA plan give an actual example that happened to them? I’d like to understand the downside.

R66…no downside for me. I went to the ER last year with abdominal pains, which turned out to be appendicitis. Wheeled into prep at 1, surgery at 2, and walked out at 5. Zero charge to me. This was with Kaiser Advantage. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Here’s a recent article from Consumer Reports about the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage plans compared with original Medicare.

Thanks, R69

What I want to know is, where is the money for this increase coming from? Social Security payments are derived from currently-working people, and as there are Help Wanted signed EVERYWHERE, who are the workers who are paying for it? Did FICA deductions on paychecks get a big increase?