SSA Announces No COLA for Benefits in 2016

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced this week that monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will remain the same in 2016. Cost of living adjustments (COLA) to these benefits are determined based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Because there was no increase in the CPI-W, there will be no increase in these benefits.

For adult care facilities (ACFs), this means that it is unlikely that there will be an increase in SSI this year. The COLA that ACFs see each year is actually an adjustment to the federal portion of the SSI benefit. There is no COLA built in for the state portion of the benefit. 

LeadingAge New York has been persistently advocating for an increase in the state portion of SSI Congregate Care Level 3 benefits—including an increase in the personal needs allowance. We are also advocating for a built-in COLA moving forward so that the rate does not continually fail to keep pace with the actual increase in the cost of ACF care. Given this news from SSA, our advocacy is even more important than ever. We will be reaching out to members shortly with some new advocacy tools with the goal of getting an increase in the State budget.

Contact: Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8828