COLA, SSI

No Cost-of-Living Adjustment for 2016

October 15, 2015 • By

Reading Time: 1 Minute

Last Updated: March 17, 2021

pink piggy bank Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is an increase in the benefit amount people receive each month. By law, the monthly Social Security and SSI federal benefit rate increases when there is a rise in the cost of living. The government measures changes in the cost of living through the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI-W).

The CPI has not risen since the last cost-of-living adjustment in 2015. As a result, your SSI benefit rate and, for most people, your Social Security benefit amount will stay the same in 2016.

This news isn’t necessarily bad. When inflation stays at the same rate, your cost of living also stays the same. Prices for goods and services, on average, haven’t increased enough to affect the COLA.

Other changes that would normally take effect based on changes in the national average wage index also won’t begin in January 2016. Since there is no COLA, the statute also prohibits a change in the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax, as well as the retirement earnings test exempt amounts. These amounts will remain unchanged in 2016. The new fact sheet provides more information on 2016 Social Security and SSI changes.

For additional information about the 2016 COLA, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.

For additional information about changes in the national average wage index, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/COLA/AWI.html.

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About the Author

Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Communications

Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Communications

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  7. Jimmy

    Using the 1980 method for compiling CPI inflation it’s running at 11 percent versus the now official CPI rate of 1 percent.

    The 1980 and the 1990 changes in how inflation is compiled greatly minimizes the actual and true rate of inflation.

    Using the 1980 criteria for the CPI the now average $1200 SSI monthly average would now be about $5000.00 a month.

  8. Don

    I think we have to help our citizens. But we are bleeding from so many spots. People coming from other countries to have a baby. People bringing their parents who never paid into any US system can get their parents Medicare if they have lived in the US for 5 years. People we are helping people that never payed into the system. Yes if people are hurt. But if we went to another country we can’t live off their system. Universal healthcare is not doing well in other countries. Remember the baby bummers are retiring in all countries.

  9. Beth

    So none of this has anything to do with Congress taking 150 billion out of the social security fund…I think it does that’s why social security recipients has not received a raise in 2016… Oh they say cost of living did not raise from the year before. Ha I do not know where they live but where I live gas is slowly rising,groceries are constantly going up at the store,utilities are outragious, insurances,medical…somebody forgot to tell the population where I live that prices shouldn’t be raising…what a bunch of BS…liars all of them!!!!

  10. GORT

    One obvious solution is to eliminate the for-profit health care system and switch to universal coverage for all citizens. Some argue that the quality of our health care would drop as a result, but that’s not a given, it’s a red herring scare tactic designed to keep you in line and content with the current system.

    Let’s be clear – the current system is a Frankenstein monster, sewn together by the heath care industry and lobbyists hired by said industry to ensure that profits, and political contributions to willing candidates, are maximized, while true benefits to citizens are reduced to bare bones coverage that inevitably requires co-payments even though you already have insurance, often from both Medicare and 3rd-party providers.

    Arguing about whether or not the United States should switch to national health coverage is akin to arguing about climate change. The answer is obvious, but those with agendas that run counter to the needs of the public have mastered the art of obstructionism, as evidenced by the outrageous, ever-increasing abuse of the filibuster in the Senate.

    Perhaps the solution is simpler than you would be led to believe: Vote for candidates that support a national health care system.

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