The annual Social Security cost of living adjustment for 2024 has inched up to 3.2% based on the latest consumer price index data released today, according to estimates from the Senior Citizens League.
The CPI data rose 0.6%, its biggest monthly gain of 2023. The inflation gauge increased 3.7% in the 12 months through August, from 3.2% in the year through July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the COLA for 2024 in mid-October. Mary Johnson, Social Security policy analyst for the non-partisan senior group, the Senior Citizens League (TSCL), said if the 3.2% COLA holds up, it would be higher than the average over the past 20 years, which was 2.6%. The COLA forecast was 3% for the past two months.
Last year , Social Security recipients received an 8.7% raise, the biggest increase in more than 40 years, Johnson noted. “But nobody is getting rich,” she said. “The reality is that the dollar amount of the COLA increase received is meager at best, with the average monthly retiree benefit only $1,790 in 2023.
The average monthly retiree benefit of $1,790 would jump by $57.30 with a 3.2% COLA, Johnson said. but they will not know the bottom line until the Medicare Part B premiums are announced, she said, noting that Part B premiums are automatically deducted from most Social Security benefit.
Johnson said the Medicare Trustees annual report forecasts monthly Part B premiums to increase from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.80 in 2024. However, she said that does not include any significant new costs that come up after the estimate is released.
She noted that the most significant new costs could be Medicare’s coverage for the new Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab, known by the brand name Leqembi, which is expected to cost $26,000 per year without insurance.