"...The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) — a nonpartisan seniors group — delivered letters last week to all members of Congress asking them cosponsor the bipartisan CPI-E Act (HR 1251). If passed, the bill would base the annual cost-of -living (COLA) adjustment for benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), and Social Security on increases in the Consumer Price Index for the elderly (also known as CPI-E).
“The inflation index that is currently used – the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) – fails to capture the inflation seniors experience because items like gasoline and electronics are given more weight than medical costs, prescription drugs, and housing expenses. The fastest growing cost for seniors – Medicare Part B premiums – is not accounted for at all in the CPI-W since young workers are not enrolled in Medicare,” wrote TSCL Chairman Art Cooper...."
