You and your 2010 Social Security benefit check

I received a notice from the Social Security Administration in late November outlining how much my monthly benefit for 2010 will be and how much will be deducted for the Medicare Part B premium.


At that point in time, Archer Brown, my editor at the Reporter, had not yet received hers. She is significantly younger than I, and my best guess (I tried verifying this point of information with Congressman Tim Bishop’s office in Washington, D.C.) is that notices were sent out in Social Security numerical order, the lowest numbers being mailed first. Mine starts with 074.


Here’s what you need to know about your Social Security benefit check in 2010. 


• There was no increase in the cost of living in the 2009 based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Department of Labor. The law does not permit an increase in benefits when there is no increase in the cost of living. So your benefit will stay the same in 2010.


• Your Medicare Part B premium is based on your adjusted gross income as reported to the IRS in 2008. Since I sold my home in 2007, my income in 2008 was well above what I regularly report. Consequently, my Medicare Part B premium is much higher than usual based on this one-time jump in my income. Yours will probably remain the same.


Our local Congressman, Tim Bishop, is seriously concerned about the loss of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in Social Security benefits in 2010. In a press release issued earlier this year, he said, “Seniors will continue to face rising costs for health care, medications and other necessities.”


He did not mention the probable increase in property taxes we face as the county and state governments struggle to balance their budgets.


The $10 million Shelter Island Town budget for 2010 approved last month “will have a very minimal impact on the tax structure,” Supervisor Jim Dougherty was quoted as saying in the Reporter’s November 19 coverage of next year’s budget.


Whether you face financial hardship in 2010 or not, I urge you to write Congressman Bishop asking him to continue to fight for some kind of cost-of-living adjustment for all seniors that is not covered by the CPI. His Suffolk County office is located at 3680 Route 112, Coram, New York 11727. And P.S.: The Congressman is up for re-election in 2010.