Medicare premiums have been rising twice as fast as Social Security COLAs
Aug 31, 2015 @ 12:05 pm
By now, most InvestmentNews readers know that there probably will not be a cost-of-living adjustment in Social Security benefits next year (as I first reported earlier this month). This would be only the third time in the past 40 years that no COLA would be paid on Social Security benefits.
Those same readers also know that some of their clients — including high-income retirees, clients who elected to suspend their Social Security benefits and new Medicare enrollees in 2016 — will pay higher Medicare premiums next year.
Now, a new analysis from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College details just how steep some of the premium hikes might be in 2016. It also discusses the broader implication of rapidly rising Medicare premiums undermining the ability of seniors to maintain their buying power for non-medical-care spending.