In October, the Social Security Administration announced the cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits for the year 2022. This is the biggest increase since 1982. From January 2022, Social Security benefits will increase by 5.9 percent. That translates to an average monthly increase of $76 for disabled workers who are receiving disability benefits.
For retired workers, the average monthly benefit will increase by around $92. Supplemental Security Income recipients will also see their monthly benefits increase by $47. Also, unlike disability and retirement benefits, new SSI benefits will come into effect on Dec. 30, 2021.
According to reports, as many as 62 million people across the country are set to benefit from the increase. Three million people who receive both Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income will also benefit from the COLA increase.
In addition to the COLA, the SSA announced an increase to the wage base. Wage base is the maximum sum that a worker pays in Social Security taxes. That means, the maximum amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes in 2022 is $147,000. In 2021, the maximum amount was 142,800. That is a year-on-year increase of 2.9 percent.
Receiving SSD benefits over the years
This is welcoming new indeed but SSD beneficiaries need to keep in mind that in order to continue receiving SSD benefits, one needs to clear a Continuing Disability Review from time to time. The SSA conducts the CDR once every three years for medical conditions that are expected to improve and for medical conditions that are unlikely to improve in the near future, the CDR happens once every five to seven years.
The CDR process can often get as elaborate as the process for obtaining SSD benefits. In fact, for many SSD recipients that can prove to be yet another experience that can be as arduous as obtaining the benefits. Therefore, it may be smart decision to consult an experienced attorney when the SSA sends the SSA-454 or the SSA-455 form. These are for the Continuing Disability Review Report and the Disability Update Report, respectively.
