Social Security Lawyer Journal

We already knew Social Security benefits were rising 2.5% due to the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).  We now know Medicare premiums will increase, as well, cutting into the increase for most recipients. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the part B premium for most recipients will increase by .30 from 4.70…

Just when the Social Security Agency finally had a progressive, engaged commissioner in former mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland, he’s gone. Effective November 29th Martin O’Malley is resigning to run for chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Among other positive changes made during O’Malley’s all too brief tenure as commissioner was modification of…

The annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) for more than 72.5 million Social Security and SSI recipient for 2025 will be 2.5% as inflation comes under control. The COLA for 2024 was 3.2%. The average retiree will receive more per month next year. The earnings limit for workers younger than full retirement age will…

On 8-27-24, the Social Security Administration announced a large step in a multi-year effor to simplify processes for people who are applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) by starting to offer an online, streamlined application for some applicants starting in December. SSI provides monthly payments to people with disabilities and older adults who have little…

You may have heard or read about the Donald Trump and conservative think tank,  The Heritage Foundation’s, plans for a second Trump presidency.  If you haven’t, do a google search.  There is some scary stuff in there, for sure.   Some of it directly affects Social Security benefits.  One of the major proposals involves gradually…

For as long as Attorney Crawforth has been practicing Social Security’s evaluation process has included Past Relevant Work for jobs going back 15 years. That will now change. For decisions dated June 22, 2024 or later the relevant time period is 5 years meaning only jobs in that time frame are evaluated.

The annual report of the Social Security & Medicare Trustees has a bit of good news. Due to the strong economy, low unemployment & wage growth the insolvency date for the combined retirement and disability trust funds is up a year to 2035. Without changes the benefits payable at that time would be 83% of…

SSI recipients have had their benefits adjusted for years to allow for assistance from others, such as food, housing etc. No longer. The new rule eliminates food from the calculation which can reduce benefits by up to one-third.

A recently introduced bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would change the way the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is calculated for Social Security recipients. Currently the COLA is determined by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) from the prior year. CPI-W considers the cost of food, consumer goods, housing, health…

It looks like the new Social Security Commissioner, Martin O’Malley, is really taking charge. A number of changes have been implemented in the several weeks Commissioner O’Malley has been on the job. Among the most meaningful is decreasing the default overpayment withholding rate to 10% (or , whichever is greater) from 100%. This will significantly…