Social Security COLA increase calculation: before or after Medicare premium deduction?

The COLA increase is applied to your gross Social Security benefit amount BEFORE any deductions like Medicare. Your entire benefit gets the increase, regardless of what's deducted afterward. That's why sometimes when Medicare premiums increase significantly, your net payment might not increase much (or at all in rare cases) even with a good COLA percentage.

its before medicare gets taken out! i just went thru this with my mom last year. she got confused cuz her check only went up like $18 even tho cola was like 3% or something

Just to add some detailed clarification: The COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) is calculated on your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), which is your basic benefit before ANY deductions. The SSA applies the COLA percentage uniformly to everyone's base benefit amount. However, it's important to understand that when both the COLA and Medicare premium increase in the same year, they can offset each other. For example, if you receive $2000 in gross benefits, a 3% COLA would add $60. But if the Medicare Part B premium increases by $20 in the same year, your actual check would only increase by $40. This is why many beneficiaries feel like they're not getting the full COLA - technically you are, but other rising costs are eating into it.

Does anyone know when they're announcing the 2023 COLA? I heard it might be over 3% with inflation being so high lately.

the whole system is RIDICULOUS!!! they give us a tiny cola increase then take most of it away with medicare increases!!! my check only went up $12 last year after a so-called 'big increase' - what a joke!!! meanwhile congress gives themselves huge raises every year!!!!

My mom had something weird happen where her Medicare premium didn't increase one year because of something called the "hold harmless" provision. Anyone know how that works?

For anyone struggling to reach SSA to discuss their specific COLA or benefit questions, I found a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an agent quickly after weeks of failed attempts. Their website (claimyr.com) has a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU showing how it works. It basically holds your place in line so you don't have to keep calling back. I used it when I needed to sort out why my benefit amount seemed wrong after the COLA increase, and I got through to a real person in about 30 minutes instead of spending days trying.

@profile6 Yes, there is a fee, but it was worth it to me after wasting days trying to get through. They don't handle your personal info - they just connect you with SSA's phone system so you're talking directly to Social Security. After my third disconnection trying to resolve my COLA questions, I was at my wit's end.

Going back to the original question - here's a simple example to make it crystal clear: Let's say your gross SS benefit is $2,000/month and Medicare Part B premium is $170/month. Your net check is $1,830. If COLA is 3%, the increase is calculated on the $2,000, giving you a $60 increase (to $2,060). If Medicare then increases by $15 (to $185), your new net check would be $1,875 ($2,060 - $185). So even though you got a full 3% COLA ($60), your actual check only increased by $45 because of the Medicare premium increase. This is why many beneficiaries feel like they don't get the full COLA - other costs are rising simultaneously.

Just wanted to add that you can also check your exact COLA calculation by looking at your Social Security Statement online at ssa.gov/myaccount. It shows your benefit history and how each year's COLA was applied to your base amount. This helped me understand exactly how much my gross benefit increased versus what my net payment became after Medicare and other deductions. It's really helpful for budget planning since you can see the pattern of how COLA and Medicare premium changes have affected your payments over time.