Social Security cost-of-living increase announcement delayed by government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ongoing government shutdown is delaying the announcement of the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for tens of millions of beneficiaries.

Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the 2024 Social Security COLA announcement will now be Oct. 24. It is timed to the September Consumer Price Index, which also has not yet been released.

The agency adjusts its benefits every year based on inflation. The postponement of the announcement is the most recent example of how the government shutdown, entering its third week and with little progress made toward a resolution, has made it more difficult for people to plan out their finances.

Projections by Senior Citizens League and the AARP anticipate a COLA increase of roughly 2.7%. About 70.6 million people, including retirees, disabled people and children, get Social Security benefits.

Social Security Administration beneficiaries have voiced concerns that next year’s increase will not be enough to counter rising costs.

Sue Conard, a 75-year-old retired nurse from La Crosse, Wisconsin, and SSA recipient, recently traveled to the U.S. Capitol with other retiree members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union to lobby for meaningful progress towards gaining health care protections to end the shutdown, as well as changes to Social Security benefits.

She said she wants lawmakers to change the calculation on how the COLA is determined since the standard CPI gauge, which includes a market basket of consumer goods and services, doesn’t take into account many costs typical for older Americans.

“The issue of how the COLA is determined is flat-out wrong because health care is not factored into the CPI,” said Conard, speaking on the front steps of the Longworth House Office Building.

Some lawmakers have proposed legislation that would make SSA use a different index, called the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), to calculate the cost-of-living increase that measures price changes based on the spending patterns of older people on things such as health care, food and medicine.

A collection of Democratic lawmakers has proposed legislation to change the CPI calculation for COLA benefits to the CPI-E. Last session, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., proposed a law that would change the COLA calculation, but that never got a hearing in the Senate Finance committee.

AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said the COLA “isn’t just a source of income — it’s a lifeline of independence and dignity, for tens of millions of older Americans.” But even with an adjusted COLA, a majority of Americans still face challenges covering basic expenses, she said.

Vanessa Fields, a 70-year-old former social worker and AFSCME member from Philadelphia, said she pays roughly $1,000 per month for groceries, more than in previous years. The COLA doesn’t keep up with rising costs, she said, “and we’re going to be in bad shape if lawmakers don’t act.”

The agency is expected to begin notifying recipients about their new benefit amount starting in early December. A spokesperson for Social Security who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the COLA said retirement and Supplemental Security Income benefits would be adjusted beginning Jan. 1, 2026, without any delay despite the current government lapse in appropriations.

The delayed COLA announcement comes as the national social insurance plan faces a severe financial shortfall in the coming years and as the agency has seen substantial workforce cuts.

The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in June said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034, instead of last year’s estimate of 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 81% of scheduled benefits, the report said.

In addition, the agency laid off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000 earlier this year, putting pressure on the remaining workers to handle claims and answer inquiries from a rising number of recipients.