Government: No benefit hike for Social Security next year

WASHINGTON (AP)

There will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, the government said Thursday.

It’s just the third time in 40 years that payments will remain flat. All three times have come since 2010.

And there’s more bad news. The lack of a benefit increase means that many older people could face higher Medicare costs, an issue that has advocates lobbying Congress.

The main reason for no increase next year is low gas prices.

By law, the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation. That gauge came out Thursday.

As of Wednesday, AAA said the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.30, about 90 cents less than it was a year ago.