Social Security Payment Adjustments Projected to Be Lowest in Years, Group Predicts

A prominent seniors group predicted that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for next year’s Social Security payments will be 2.4 percent, a 0.1 percentage point increase from its prediction last month.

“The 2026 COLA is projected to be the lowest since 2021,” the group said in its statement. “High inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic led to higher-than-average COLAs of 5.9 percent in 2022 and 8.7 percent in 2023.”

If the prediction stands, the group says, people receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments will see the lowest adjustment since 2021, when a 1.3 percent COLA was implemented.

“If our predictions come true and the 2026 COLA comes in at the lowest we’ve seen since 2021, seniors will face additional pressure at a time when they’re already strained financially,” the group’s director, Shannon Benton, said in the statement. “Our research shows that 73 percent of American seniors rely on Social Security for at least half their income, with 39 percent depending on the program for all of their income.”

The Social Security Administration will announce next year’s COLA in October. The COLA is based on the consumer price index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) data for September, August, and July.

Related Stories

The senior citizens group said that while the COLA for next year may not have a substantial impact, it noted that President Donald Trump issued an executive order designed to lower prescription drug prices.

“President Trump’s executive order is a big step for Medicare’s ability to negotiate prices. American taxpayers should not be paying more than the price charged in other countries for the same drugs, especially those made by American companies. American taxpayers shouldn’t have to subsidize the rest of the world’s healthcare while our own seniors are struggling to get by,” Benton said.