The Social Security and Medicare programs provide monthly income and health insurance to millions of retired Americans, but many beneficiaries still struggled with financial hardships in the past year. The standard Medicare Part B premium rose 14.5% (or $21.60) to $170.10 per month in 2022, marking the largest price hike in history in terms of nominal dollars. More broadly, the 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) added to Social Security checks in 2022 underestimated the impact of inflation, causing benefits to lose buying power.

Fortunately, retirees should see some financial relief next year. In September, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Medicare Part B premiums will decrease in 2023, an event that has only happened three other times in the last four decades. More recently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced an 8.7% COLA for benefits in 2023. That is the biggest COLA in the last four decades, and the fourth-biggest COLA in history.

Individually, those events are rare, but together, they represent history in the making. Never before has such a large COLA coincided with a drop in Part B premiums, and it may never happen again in our lifetime, according to Mary Johnson, the policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League.

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Source Fool.com