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In addition, it takes time for the vaccine to take effect after you've received it. So, for a time you could still get very ill..Medicare Part B premiums jumped .10 per month in 2020 - one of the biggest increases in recent years. While the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment increased benefits by 1.6 percent in 2020, Medicare Part B premiums climbed 6.7 percent, more than four times faster. A jump of this size can put older household budgets into a bind, forcing retirees to go without essentials when they run short before their next Social Security check..While that is certainly better than 2010 and 2011 when inflation was so low that no COLA was paid for two years in a row, it's unlikely to cover seniors' real cost increases. Earlier this year we surveyed our readers and 89% reported that the 1.7% COLA in 2013 increased benefits by less than per month. On the other hand, almost the same number, 88%, reported that their total monthly expenses rose by more than Unfortunately the majority of those people, 40%, said that their monthly costs rose by more than 9..During the meetings, the following issues were discussed: Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, Social Security Notch fairness, Social Security Totalization agreement reform, Social Security credits earned for work done illegally, and repeal of both the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset. Support was expressed for many of these key issues, and TSCL looks forward to working with these offices in the future..How Did the Supreme Court Decision About the Affordable Care Act Affect Medicare?.Currently there is a 2% tax cut on the Social Security payroll tax workers pay. That tax cut is due to expire December 31, 201Do you favor a further extension, and if so how would you pay for it?.This year, for the first time in decades, "expanding" Social Security became the platform of a major political party - the Democrats - while both presidential candidates, Clinton and Trump, expressed opposition to any benefit cuts. And lending credibility to the claims, legislation is pending in both the Senate and the House that would provide a boost to Social Security benefits and use a "seniors" CPI, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, to determine the annual cost-of-living adjustment. The legislation would finance doing this by lifting the payroll taxable maximum - which is currently capped in 2016 at the first 8,500 in earnings.."Many food companies decrease the size of their containers, while keeping the same price," Joe said in his comments about price increases that he's observed. "Cost increases get masked when container sizes shrink." For example, after last year's hurricanes, a major orange shortage nationwide led to shrinking orange juice bottles. "Brands that originally sold in 64 oz containers, downsized to 59 oz and then to 52 oz - a 20 percent reduction in what our orange juice money buys today," Joe says..So far activists, including TSCL's members and supporters, have managed to keep Capitol Hill lawmakers wary of making major changes. But the issue isn't going away any time soon. The nation will once again reach the federal debt limit by the end of next year, and at the same time, lawmakers will be confronted with the looming insolvency of the Social Security Disability program. Deficit reduction battles are likely to dominate the Congressional agenda once again, and cutting COLAs remains the target of major deficit reduction plans.