Upcoming AARP event: What Happened To My Social Security COLA?

What Happened To My Social Security COLA? Dealing with the Impact on Beneficiaries and Budgets During a Period Without COLAs

An AARP Solutions Forum

Monday, September 21, 2009
9:30 - 11:30 AM

Union Station Columbus Club
Washington, DC

Government officials are expected to announce in October that for the first time since 1975 — when Social Security benefits were indexed to inflation — there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year. Projected low inflation means that no COLAs are expected as well for 2011 and 2012. But, Medicare premiums — which are deducted from beneficiaries' Social Security checks — will continue to rise. Under current law, most beneficiaries will be protected from increases in the Medicare Part B premium but others will bear a disproportionate share of rising Medicare costs. Join us for an expert discussion of:

• How the Social Security COLA works and how the Medicare Part B premium is affected.
  
• How inflation is measured for the COLA, and how the measure might be improved.
  
• The impact of no COLA's on state budgets.
  
• Policy options to address the hardships Social Security beneficiaries may face.
  

Register Early — Seating is Limited!!

9:15

Continental Breakfast available

9:30

Panel Discussion / Audience Q and A Stephen C. Goss, Chief Actuary, Social Security Administration How the COLA is calculated and alternative measures of inflation Tricia Neuman, Vice President and Director of the Medicare Policy Project, Kaiser Family Foundation The Social Security COLA and the Medicare Part B Premium: issues and options Matt Salo, Director, Health and Human Services Committee, National Governors Association The Impact on State Budgets