USA Today examines financial strain on retirees with fixed incomes as health care costs, other essentials rise

USA Today on Tuesday, in the first article of a series about retirement issues in the 21st century, examined how retirees are seeing "inflation wring much of the value out of their fixed incomes."

Jim Dau, a spokesperson for AARP, said, "By any measure, people who are retired are bearing the worst brunt of the economic slump," adding, "Because they're living on fixed incomes, they're just getting crushed on food and medicine that they can't do without." A recent AARP survey found that 59% of residents ages 65 and older were experiencing increasing difficulty paying for their medications, food and gas. According to USA Today, the situation has led "a growing number of financially squeezed seniors" to seek credit counseling.

John Rother, policy director for AARP, said an alternative inflation index that tends to rise faster than other inflation gauges should be used for Social Security because it reflects items that more directly affect people ages 62 and older. However, Rother said he doubts such action will be taken by Congress unless there is a major effort to overhaul the Social Security system. The inflation adjustment in 2008 for Social Security payments was 2.3%, USA Today reports.

According to USA Today, "No one disputes, though, that in one specific way, seniors are losing ground with Social Security" through Medicare costs, which are "gobbling up a big chunk of their Social Security checks." CMS figures show that about 26% of a typical Social Security check goes to Medicare premiums, drug coverage, copayments, deductibles and other costs related to the program (O'Shaughnessy, USA Today, 7/2).