People who are eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) may be curious about how much their checks will go up in January 2025. The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security in 2025 won’t be made public until October, but early figures show what to expect.
The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonprofit group that advocates for seniors, says that the COLA will go up by about 2.5% in 2025. This prediction is based on the CPI-W measure from the Department of Labor. The CPI-W is short for the Consumer Price measure for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
Beneficiaries from the disability benefits program will get their increased SSDI checks starting January 2025
If this number holds true, recipients may see a small rise in their monthly payments in January. A retired worker getting Social Security benefits in August 2024 got an average of $1,920.48 a month. If the 2.5% rise that was expected happened, this amount would go up by $48.01, and the new monthly payment would be $1,968.49.
This rise is about the same as the average of 2.6% over the last 20 years, even though it is a lot less than the record 8.7% COLA in 2023. Also, the big jumps in inflation in the past few years that caused the big change in 2023 have slowed down, bringing next year’s COLA closer to long-term trends.
Even though this year’s 2.5% rise won’t be as big as last year’s, it’s still good for SSDI recipients because it helps them keep up with rising living costs. It is important to keep in mind that things like your Medicare fees may affect how much of the cost of living adjustment cut you get in cash.
The regular Medicare Part B premium is expected to go up by $10.30 a month in 2025. This might make the COLA less of a problem for a lot of people who get their premiums taken straight out of their SSDI checks.
Once the official COLA is made public, it’s not hard to figure out how it will change your SSDI checks. You should get an extra $50 a month in SSDI checks if the 2.5% raise keeps going in 2025 and you are currently getting $2,000 a month. The number is a good guess, but it won’t be exact because it will depend on your full retiring age and other factors.
Always keep in mind that the new Medicare premium rates will be released soon, before the official COLA figures are made public in October. This will help you get ready for any changes that might happen to your SSDI checks in 2025.
Medicare plans for millions of beneficiaries could be compromised
Aside from the fact that SSDI checks are going up, there is other news that is important for people who get Social Security: millions of Americans could lose their Medicare Advantage coverage.
A big insurance company called Humana said it was leaving 13 markets across the country, which means that more than 500,000 Americans will no longer be able to get Medicare Advantage plans.
The CEO of the company, Susan Diamond, told this month’s Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference that about 560,000 members will have to switch plans. The change will touch about 1 in 10 of its Medicare Advantage members. Diamond said that almost all of those people had other choices.
When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services lowered its Medicare Advantage standard rate, a number of insurers left the market. This meant that insurers across the country made less money.
The company also thinks that some of the changes in its finances will come from members using their extra perks, which can be anything from over-the-counter (OTC) cards to dental care, more often.
As Diamond pointed out, because we changed some benefits for 2025, we expect even more people to use some of those services in the fourth quarter of 2024. He also said that they think some of those perks will be used even more if people find out about them and know that they will be cut back.