As Missouri Seniors Face Increasing Medical Costs & Social Security Benefits Don’t Keep Up—McCaskill Calls for Fix

Senator backs push to account for higher senior medical costs in Social Security benefits formula—would lead to larger annual increases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is backing a change that would modify the cost of living adjustment used to determine the annual increase in Social Security benefits to better reflect the expenses seniors face, including out-of-pocket medical expenses. Seniors aged 65 and over spend twice as much on health care as the general population, and seniors 75 and over spend nearly three times as much as younger consumers.

“Missouri seniors living on fixed incomes are seeing their out-of-pocket expenses rising every year, but the benefits they’ve earned from Social Security just aren’t keeping up,” McCaskill said. “It’s unbelievable to me that the minimal cost of living adjustments our seniors are seeing today in their Social Security checks are based on the same basket of goods from 1973—a whole lot has changed since then, and it’s about time we change this too.”

Currently, Social Security benefits are adjusted annually based on a Consumer Price Index that consists of a fixed basket of goods and services for urban wage earners and clerical workers—the only such index available in 1973 when the law was enacted. The proposed change would switch from the current index to a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, which measures cost of living expenses for households over the age of 62, including a greater emphasis on out-of-pocket medical expenses. This change would result in an average increase of 0.2% more than the current increase.

Protecting Social Security benefits and advocating for the program’s recipients have been a top priorities for McCaskill throughout her time in the Senate. McCaskill backed the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act that would repeal provisions in law that reduce Social Security payouts for individuals who paid into Social Security, yet are also eligible for pension benefits from public sector jobs outside the Social Security system.

Previously serving as the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, McCaskill worked with Republican Senator Susan Collins to highlight the retirement security crisis. In 2015, McCaskill embarked on a statewide tour of Missouri during which she heard directly from seniors about what they need for a comfortable retirement.

Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/seniors to learn more about McCaskill’s fight for Missouri’s seniors.

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