On January 1, 2013 recipients of Social Security payments received a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the coming year. That same day, deduction from Social Security payments for the monthly Medicare premium for Part B insurance coverage was increased by 5 percent, nearly 3 times the cost-of-living-adjustment.
By law, the Part B premium can't rise by more than any annual COLA. However, by allowing the percentage increase in Medicare premiums to exceed the annual COLA percentage, such increases, accumulated over time, can and will erode compensation due our oldest beneficiaries. Under such conditions, calling Social Security increases a cost-of-living-adjustment is a mockery of the term.
We request revision of current law to limit future deductions to the COLA percentage.