SOCIAL SECURITY MONTHLY PAY TO RISE $10.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Elderly Americans next year will get the smallest annual cost-of-living increase in a dozen years - an average of $10 a month - the downside Downside The dollar amount by which the market or a stock has the potential to fall. Notes: You might hear someone say that the downside on stock XYZ is $10. What that means is that the stock could fall by this amount if things got bad. of the robust economy that is keeping inflation low. ``It's not a lot,'' said Myra Cox, 74, of Apple Valley, Calif. But the widowed grandmother said the 1.3 percent boost in 1999 will just cover the increase that comes each fall, without fail, in the monthly charge for her mobile-home lot. ``That little bit does make a difference,'' Cox said. ``It does with me and I think it does with most senior citizens.'' Social Security Commissioner Kenneth Apfel announced Friday that next year's average monthly check for retirees will rise by $10 to a new total of $780. The increases will begin appearing in January checks. But reflecting higher health costs, the government separately noted that monthly Medicare premiums deducted de·duct v. de·duct·ed, de·duct·ing, de·ducts v.tr. 1. To take away (a quantity) from another; subtract. 2. To derive by deduction; deduce. v.intr. from most elderly and disabled Americans' Social Security checks for insurance coverage of doctors' office visits will rise by 3.9 percent, up $1.70 next year to $45.50. Monthly checks from Social Security - the government's biggest benefit program with 44 million beneficiaries - are adjusted annually to keep rising prices from eroding buying power Buying Power The money an investor has available to buy securities. In a margin account, the buying power is the total cash held in the brokerage account plus maximum margin available. Also referred to as "Excess Equity. . Since 1975, the adjustment has been automatic, requiring no vote by Congress. It is calculated based on changes in the Consumer Price Index, the government's inflation yardstick. Because of low inflation, the yearly benefit boosts have been below 3 percent since 1994. Next year's increase matches a record low of 1.3 percent set in 1987. In contrast, double-digit inflation in the late 1970s drove the increase to a high of 14.3 percent in 1980. A booming U.S. economy in the 1990s - including huge gains for stock market investors - has helped drop the number of Americans over age 65 living at or near poverty to 17 percent in 1997. Advocates for the elderly, however, say many senior citizens depend heavily on Social Security's raises. ``There is this image that has been fostered of senior citizens that they are somehow affluent and feeding at the trough Trough The stage of the economy's business cycle that marks the end of a period of declining business activity and the transition to expansion. of the baby boomers' Social Security tax,'' said Mark Andersen Mark Andersen is a punk rock activist and author who lives in Washington D.C.. He was born and raised in rural Montana, and moved to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend graduate school at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). of Emmaus Services for the Aging in the nation's capital. ``For many . . . that is absolutely a false image,'' he said. ``Millions of seniors are struggling to stay out of poverty.'' Special circumstances special circumstances n. in criminal cases, particularly homicides, actions of the accused or the situation under which the crime was committed for which state statutes allow or require imposition of a more severe punishment. facing older people can mean inflation hits them harder. For example, while overall inflation is low, the price of prescription drugs prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, - which the elderly are more likely to need - is growing at a 5.4 percent annual rate this year. And prescriptions are not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. by Medicare, the nation's health insurance program for the elderly. The price of private supplemental policies that many senior citizens buy has also climbed rapidly. CAPTION(S): Chart CHART: LOW COST-OF-LIVING RAISE Social Security recipients will get the lowest cost-of-living raise in 12 years. A look at the annual increases since 1975: (x) July 1980: 14.3 percent Jan. 1999: 1.3 percent (x) No increase in 1983 due to Social Security crisis. SOURCE: Department of Health and Human Services Noun 1. Department of Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Health and Human Services, HHS Associated Press |
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