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Social Security beneficiaries are receiving the highest cost-of-living adjustment in decades, thanks to rising inflation.
That 5.9% increase went into effect in January.
Prices have continued to climb higher since that change was announced in October.
The Consumer Price Index, a government measure for price changes for certain goods, climbed 7% in December from the previous year — the fastest increase since 1982, according to data released Wednesday.
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Excluding food and energy prices, the index was up 5.5% from the previous year.
Record-high inflation comes as policymakers and experts are debating whether Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, accurately reflects the price increases seniors face.
The Social Security Administration uses a specific measurement, known as the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, to calculate those annual adjustments.
New Social Security reform legislation proposed on Capitol Hill seeks to change that measurement to an experimental index for people ages 62 and over known as the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, or CPI-E.
President Joe Biden advocated for this change, along with other Social Security reforms, during his campaign.
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