More Evidence of How Social Security Falls Short
In March, Congress authorized another round of federal stimulus checks. Eligible recipients were to receive $1,400. For almost a month, Social Security recipients anxiously waited – desperate for their money to arrive. Fortunately, it looks like most seniors received their stimulus funds in the government’s fourth batch which was processed on April 7th. According to CNBC, Social Security beneficiaries received most of the money from that $36 billion distribution. It found that more than 19 million payments went to Social Security beneficiaries – that includes people who receive Social Security retirement, survivor, or disability checks. If you believe you are due economic stimulus money but haven’t received it, you can check your payment status on the IRS website.
The fact that so many seniors spent weeks stressing over when they would receive their stimulus money is proof that current Social Security benefits alone are insufficient. Simply put – seniors need (and deserve) more money.
Time for Change
The Seniors Trust is working to make that happen. It wants to see Congress pass the Social Security Expansion Act. To begin with, this landmark piece of legislation would set an immediate across the board benefit increase. It would amount to about $65 per month for Social Security beneficiaries. That might not sound like a huge amount, but every bit counts especially when you are living off of a fixed income. That $65 could cover a week’s worth of groceries for an older American, according to estimates from the USDA.
Additionally, the Social Security Expansion Act would ensure that benefits keep pace with the true spending habits of seniors. It calls for establishing a fairer annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) based upon the living expenses seniors incur, such as higher costs of medication and health care.
Are these ideas something you can get behind? We hope the answer is say YES! Many others have. Surveys show an astonishing support for passage of the Social Security Expansion Act and for Congress to expand Social Security benefits for all eligible senior citizens. You can show lawmakers that you support this initiative by signing The Seniors Trust petition and calling on them to immediately pass this bill.
