Social Security benefits will increase 8.7% in 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Social Security benefits will increase 8.7% in 2023, helping retirees weather surging inflation that shows few signs of slowing down. 

It’s the biggest cost-of-living increase since 1981, when there was an 11.3% bump in monthly benefits. On average, Social Security checks will rise by more than $140 a month starting in January. Roughly 70 million Americans, or about 25% of the US population, are Social Security beneficiaries.

The news about next year’s COLA follows the Sept. 27 announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that the standard Part B Medicare premium, which covers outpatient care, will fall by 3.1% to $164.90 in 2023. Last year, the premium rose 14.5%, well over the 5.9% cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits. 

“Today’s announcement is welcome news to seniors in Ohio and across the country who have spent a lifetime paying into Social Security and rely on the benefits they’ve earned to retire with dignity,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy. “Social Security and Medicare are two of the most popular programs in the country – together they represent a solemn commitment to the American people. While Republicans continue trying to roll back and undermine seniors’ retirement security, I am fighting to protect and strengthen these programs to ensure a dignified retirement for all hard-working Americans.”

Brown has led the fight to protect and expand Social Security, and to help seniors keep up with the cost of living.

In September, Brown introduced a resolution, joined by 37 of his colleagues, affirming the Senate’s commitment to protect and expand Social Security so that future generations can continue to rely on its bedrock promise. This was in response to several Republican members of the House and Senate proposed cutting Social Security by undermining its funding, reducing benefits, or terminating the program altogether. Brown also joined his colleagues in sending a letter urging the Biden administration to nominate a permanent Social Security Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner to serve at the Social Security Administration, so that the agency has leadership in place to fully deliver on the promise of Social Security to the American people.

Recognizing that the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program is a critical component of Social Security, Brown has also led the effort to modernize SSI. Last year he held the first hearing in decades on improving SSI, and earlier this year he introduced the bipartisan SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act with Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). That legislation would increase the asset limits for SSI for the first time since 1984, so that beneficiaries can meaningfully save for emergencies without jeopardizing their benefits. At a Senate Finance mark up this past summer, Brown, Portman, and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) committed to getting the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act enacted into law.