（NEXSTAR）——美国社会保障局周三宣布，将为受益人实施多年来最大幅度的生活成本调整，但至少有组织认为这一调整仍显不足。这项年度调整被称为“生活成本调整”（COLA），旨在帮助领取社会保障金（包括补充保障收入，SSI）的人群在通胀不断上升的情况下维持购买力。COLA的计算依据是劳工部发布的城市工薪阶层及文职人员消费价格指数（CPI-W），该指数用于衡量常见商品和服务价格的变化。
(NEXSTAR) – The Social Security Administration on Wednesday announced one of the largest cost-of-living adjustments in years for beneficiaries, but at least one organization says it isn't enough. The annual adjustment, known as a COLA, is designed to help those who receive Social Security benefits, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), retain their buying power amid rising inflation. COLAs are based on the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which serves as a measure of the change in prices for common goods and services.
尽管CPI-W每月都会更新，但在计算下一年度的年度COLA调整时，仅会采用7月、8月和9月的数据。周三公布的数据显示，9月份通胀进一步上升，导致2027年的COLA定为3.6%。这是自2023年以来的最大涨幅，也是自2000年以来的最大调整之一。然而，尽管调整幅度较大，“老年人联盟”（The Senior Citizens League）仍表示这可能不够。
While the CPI-W is updated monthly, only the data from July, August and September are considered when calculating the annual COLA adjustment for the following year. Inflation rose in September, data released Wednesday showed, fueling a COLA of 3.6 percent for 2027. It's the largest hike since 2023 and one of the largest since 2000. Despite its size, The Senior Citizens League — which most recently projected the 2027 COLA would be 3.5 percent — said it may not be enough.
该组织最近预测2027年的COLA为3.5%。其执行董事香农·本顿（Shannon Benton）在周三的新闻稿中表示：“又一年，又一项未能达到预期的COLA。”她还补充说，尽管目前物价不断上涨，但“由于COLA计算方法已经过时，受益人的福利金却数月不变”。老年人联盟的新闻稿指出，COLA所依据的是“已经发生”的通胀。该组织还引用了其2025年和2026年的调查结果：分别有94%和89%的受访者认为最近的COLA调整幅度过低，导致他们的福利金未能跟上通胀的步伐。
“Another year, another COLA that falls short of expectations," TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton said in a Wednesday press release. She added that while prices are rising now, "benefits stay the same for months due to an outdated COLA methodology." TSCL's press release noted that the COLA is based on inflation that has "already occurred." The group also pointed to its 2025 and 2026 surveys in which 94 percent and 89 percent of respondents, respectively, said they felt the most recent COLAs had been too low, leaving their benefits to fall behind inflation.
本顿表示：“在职人员可以要求加薪或寻找更高薪的工作，但老年人却不得不削减开支或动用储蓄，直到下一次COLA调整到来。”美国退休人员协会（AARP）9月的一项民意调查显示，在50岁及以上的人群中，约有四分之三的人不同意“2027年3.5%的COLA足以应对物价上涨”这一观点。
"Working people can request a raise or seek a higher-paying position, but seniors have to make lifestyle cuts or drain their savings until the next COLA," Benton said. An AARP poll from September found that about three-quarters of those 50 or older disagreed with the idea that a 3.5% COLA in 2027 would be enough to keep up with rising prices.
社会保障工作者倡导组织主席南希·奥尔特曼表示，最新的通胀数据表明，“尽管社会保障生活成本调整（COLA）非常重要，但它并未跟上物价上涨的步伐。”居住在明尼苏达州罗切斯特郊外的71岁退休人员洛丽·乌夫金表示，COLA无法缓解她的医疗费用支出，而这些费用将在特朗普政府年底结束一项临时医疗保险D部分补贴项目后增加，该项目此前有助于抵消保费。
Nancy Altman, president of the Social Security Works advocacy group, said the latest inflation data shows that “as important as the Social Security COLA is, it is not keeping up with prices.”Lorrie Ufkin, a 71-year-old retiree who lives outside Rochester, Minnesota, said the COLA will not put a dent in her healthcare costs, which are set to increase after the Trump administration concludes at year's end a temporary Medicare Part D subsidy program that has helped offset premiums.
乌夫金表示，她的保费和药品费用预计将上涨，尽管医疗保险及医疗补助服务中心（CMS）预测大多数人只会出现 modest 增长。她告诉美联社：“COLA‘甚至达不到他们计划对医疗保险进行的调整所需的水平’。”
Ufkin said that her premiums and drug costs are expected to rise, although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has projected a modest increase for most people. The COLA “doesn’t even meet what they’re going to do for changes to Medicare,” she told The Associated Press.