In every state in the United States, any good news related to Social Security is cause for celebration. Retirees will always look forward to every possible benefit from Social Security and the government. And that’s why the two pieces of news we bring today are a really good thing. On the one hand, we can see a reduction in costs for a portion of Medicare. On the other hand, the COLA increase for the year 2023 will reach record highs.
These two pieces of news together will mean that many retirees who only collect Social Security will have a little bit more money at the end of the month. So, this is really very good news indeed. It is true that the COLA increase is not yet assured. Well, it is certain that the increase will happen, but not the exact figure. Still, experts assure that the COLA will reach 9%, which will be a very considerable and very important increase.
With that in mind, it is also important to remember that Medicare Part B has a premium payment. That payment is reduced directly from Social Security. For next year, that payment will have a small reduction, so retirees will have with more of their benefit money because of this. It’s true that they don’t pay it directly, it’s deducted from them, and that’s why they won’t see that increase as clearly.
Medicare cuts and Social Security increases
With this small cut in Medicare, which may be ridiculous for many users, some retirees will have less money. If before the Medicare Part B Premium payment was around $170 per month, it will now be less than $165 per month. This, adding to the new Social Security COLA increase could be a noticeable change in many bank accounts.
Inflation has varied greatly throughout 2022. Despite this, it has always remained very high. As a result, Social Security users have not been able to quietly afford many payments. The increase in the subsidy through the COLA will therefore be 9%, more or less. There is no official figure yet, but it will be known very soon. If so, it is quite possible that the increase for next year will be around $50 on average for Social Security users. It may seem insufficient to some, but it is really good news.
Both Medicare and monthly Social Security check payments are very important in the lives of retirees, so these two pieces of news together could be life-changing for many SSA beneficiaries.