The bill required the U.S. Department of Labor to prepare a separate Consumer Price Index for those age 62 and over to use as the basis for their COLA. In the current Congress he is again supporting efforts to protect seniors from inflation.
“Our manamko’ and retirees have special expenses, different than other consumers,” says Sablan. “They have higher medical care and prescription drug costs in particular. And those costs are rising faster than the base rate of inflation.
“But the regular Consumer Price Index does not always capture changes in these special expenses. As a result, Social Security benefits are not keeping up with the real everyday cost of living that seniors face.
“I think we need to fix that flaw in the system, and make sure seniors on Social Security have a decent and respectable quality of life.”
Over the last two years, Social Security benefits have not risen at all.
2,570 people in the Northern Marianas received a check to help them out, and the program pumped $642,420 into the commonwealth economy.
But in addition to supporting that cash payment, Sablan also co-sponsored the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act to provide a more permanent fix. The Act required the U.S. Department of Labor to prepare a separate Consumer Price Index for those age 62 and over, who may have expenses that are not captured in the regular Consumer Price Index. The bill also required that the new CPIEC be used to compute cost-of-living increases for both Social Security and Medicare benefits.
But the bill did not pass.
“Getting the law changed is often a multi-year effort,” Sablan explained. “So in this Congress we are working again to get a special measurement of cost of living for seniors.”
This time the bill will be called the CPI for Seniors Act.
There are about 2,500 Social Security recipients in the Northern Marianas and the number is growing. 1,500 are retirees, widows, and widowers, who are mostly elderly. The rest are disabled workers and children. Altogether, Social Security payments to these individuals exceed $15 million each year; and most of that money goes directly into the Northern Marianas economy.
