The announcement of the low cost-of-living adjustment for 2017 (0.3%) has led to demands for Congress to step in
and manually issue America’s senior citizens a pay raise.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine)
has said this $5 raise is not enough, especially given the possibility of a substantial rise in Medicare premiums. She has also advocated
changing cost-of-living adjustments to more accurately reflect the spending patterns of senior citizens.
Medicare’s hold harmless provision protects most, but not all, 2016 beneficiaries from the hike. More details on who qualifies
as held harmless may be found in last week’s newsletter.