President Obama has proposed extending the 2009 economic recovery payment of $250 into 2010 by providing another payment of $250 to retirees,veterans and disabled people already receiving Social Security benefits. This additional payment will potentially be funded via the $787 Billion economic stimulus package and is expected to cost $13 billion in total.
“These payments will provide aid to more than 50 million people in the coming year, relief that will not only make a difference for them, but for our economy as a whole, complementing the tax cuts we’ve provided working families and small businesses through the Recovery Act,” Obama said in a statement.
President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to quickly approve the $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no cost of living increase in Social Security next year (according to the SSA which has cited negative inflation this year as the reason).
The new benefit would be $250 – or equivalent to a 2 percent increase in benefits for the average Social Security retiree beneficiary. Under the rules no person could “double dip” and receive a $250 Economic Recovery Payment through more than one program. Nor could they receive both an Economic Recovery Payment and the Making Work Pay tax credit.
The $250 payments would go to those receiving veterans benefits, disability benefits, railroad retirees and public employee retirees who don’t receive Social Security. Like the 2009 $250 payment, the additional $250 social security payment will most likely be paid out by the SSA and not count as income for SSI. To date Economic Recovery Payments have been made to 55 million people including seniors, veterans and people with disabilities and totaled $13.7 billion. Most of the checks were mailed out in May 2009.
To receive the 2010 $250 payment, the beneficiary’s address of record must be in a valid US state or territory. Only individuals eligible for Social Security, SSI, Veterans, or Railroad Retirement benefits at any time during the months of November 2009, December 2009, or January 2010 may be eligible for the extra payment. The $250 payment will be delivered in the same way your current Social Security or SSI benefit is sent.
In addition to this legislative proposal, the IRS and the Department of Treasury will take steps this week to prevent reductions in the amounts that workers can contribute to IRAs, 401(k)s, and other aspects of tax-favored retirement systems in 2010 that some feared could result from negative inflation over the past twelve months.
Current Status of $250 Payment : Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) introduced the bill (H.R 3557) on September 14, 2009 that would provide the $250 payment in 2010, detailed below, for an emergency Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for Social Security recipients. The bill has been has been referred to the Committee on Ways and Means for review and should be put to a vote on the Senate floor in the next few months.
Related posts:
- No $250 Social Security payment in 2010 – Rejected by Senate
- What is The $250 SSI Economic Recovery Payment and How Will it be Paid?
- Will there be More Stimulus Checks, Social Security Payments and Tax Credits in 2010, 2011 and Beyond
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
What's the difference if you raise social security payments or give $250.00. As a senior that's welcome but won't put a dent in expenses. Frankly, I would give it up rather than continuing down this spending venture of our government. What's more freightening is not having my health needs being addressed by my doctor. Use this $250.00 to pay my doctor more. Stop spending Mr. President.
that's an idea far better than throwing taxpayer money into failing companies. however the timing of this proposal is somehow political since Dow is at year high, and the only people who are making a big killing are those who caused this crisis.
To us poor older folks out there, nothing in life is fair of course, have some leftovers.
I got the original payment earlier this year and while I apprecaite any help, $250 is hardly going to help us for more than a month or two. Also, maybe those in Washington think there is no inflation but compare the price of bread and milk to last year and you will see what real inflation is.
whats another $13 billion…we are killing our kids
To the lucky recipient of Obama's $ 250(seniors) put that on savings account ,when the Obama care took effect you will need that money to extend your life for an hour or two because you are too old for them to consider providing you on life extending care or proceedure. So please save that money.
This is something that is not going to help retire,disabled,vets,we need our cost of living everything is so expensive? Everyone should contact there senator and let them know?
I think its a good thing that Obama is doing that and I hope that he continues to create something that helps the seniors and that is very important.
Giving Seniors $250.00 and taking their COLA is NOT enough. We are depending on our increase to live on. We are not young and therefor able to go out andsecure an income. We are on fixed incomes. Our savings and the value of our homes have been eaten into and social security is IMPORTANT!!!!Outrageous decision for Seniors . We worked all our lives for what????
the government employees get cost of living increases constantly so why shouldnt social security? after all it their own money,the $250 is a scam,because they will be charged additional taxes on it which will out weigh the amount that they have recieved. its the same thing as people recieved when he so called "stimulus plan" happened,the extra $15/week is supposed to be a tax cut,but,it isnt the tax tables never changed,,the extra $780 people are recieving is actually untaxed income and everyone will get hit VERY hard at tax time next year
I would just like to see people in washington having the same retirement of social security that we do and see how they like to live on $850.00 a month
I am happy because there is no law that states we should get any money at all. Our President feels we need some extra cash, so take it and don't complaint. I may have not voted for him, but I support any President because that's the way it should be for all Americans.
Thanks for all your comments folks. Great to see such a diverse range of responses. With the lack of a COLA this year, this check is better than nothing. Still has to go through congress (though should get approved) and I'll post updates if I see/read anything.
I appreciate the $250 stimulus but with the way prices are , it won’t go far. I also heard that Obama is eliminating the cost of living increase for 3 years. If he does that we’re up a creek without a paddle. I, for one, am glad we get that cost of living increase. I am disabled as well. My doctor told me that I can’t work until I have back surgery but I don’t know if it’s gonna help anyway. I am 61 yrs old and I doubt that anyone would hire someone my age. So , as you can see, I am between a rock and a hard place. I have 4 ruptured disks in my back and I am in constant pain.
Only those of us who get monthly Social Security or SSI (welfare) payments will receive the $250 handout. We who no longer work and pay SSA taxes and those who never paid SSA taxes thank you who are working and paying SSA taxes so we can get our freebees from the U.S. Givemint. Ain’t it great! Everything in America is free (for us amigos).
How about just giving SSI folks the 3-4% raise? no more, no less. it makes owe-bama look like he is trying to pacify the elderly with token checks, it is less than half of what they would have gotten. the cuts are already starting……
I never received my stimulus check for $250 and here it July 21, 2009. What can I do to get it? I called Social Security and they told me it was because the automatically deposited into the last checking account number they had on file for me. Since I hadn’t received a check from SS in about four weeks, due to a penalty fee imposed on me, I failed to call them and let them know I had changed bank accounts and so it was returned. Since then, I notified them of my new account information and still have not received the stimulus payment. What now???
Giving Seniors $250.00 and taking their COLA is NOT enough. We are depending on our increase to live on. We are not young and therefor able to go out andsecure an income. We are on fixed incomes. Our savings and the value of our homes have been eaten into and social security is IMPORTANT!!!!Outrageous decision for Seniors . We worked all our lives for what????
Geez, Louise! Social Security is low enough. Talk of the decrease of costs is ridiculous. After a couple of gas bills around $300 a month this past winter & many other months so much higher than it used to be, I certainly could use a subsidy. Have a question — how many have thought about the fact that so many women get their S.S. based on previous income & women's income was so much lower than men's for so many years (still is in many cases,) don't you think there should be some adjustment for that? Never see that mentioned, but I trained men for only a portion of my job that often made 2 to 3 times what I made after that. It never ends, does it. We always seem to be the ones getting the kick in the teeth from our young days to our retirement ones!
The one thing you guys aren't seeing is that there is more then just seniors on SSI, what about the people i.e children receiving survivors benefits, but they don't receive the stimulus payment because they aren't "disabled, elderly, or retired". Some of us depend on the COLA to help with the cost of raising children. We didn't choose for our children or the spouse' to have to bear the burden of losing a parent/spouse and in a single income family it is hard to make ends meet. I think that taking away the COLA and say well we will give out a one time payment is just ABSURD!!
Everyone wants their increase in social security, which would be $8.00 a month. The $250 stimulus translates into $20.83 a month. What is the complaint?
So the federal government continues to fund bonus checks for greedy CEOs, but can't afford a cost of living increase for the poorest and most vulnerable of our country.
Typical.
Face it the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, and the middle class is barely in existance. I live on ssi/ssd and it doesn't even pay for the right to live in an efficiency and god help if you work to make ends meet you get penalized for that. and if you live with someone you gotta count their income and there's another penalty. The cola don't mean shit because the cola isn't based on reality like the cost of apartments, the cost of bills like gas, electric, that joke called ugi, oil, transportation, water and garbage. Most landlords don't count utilities in rent anymore if you're lucky you get w/s/t included but none of the others. I was in social security not too long ago and it took everything I had not too go through that window and strangle the guy. I had filled out a waiver for something and was denied. I said so its not important that my kids have a roof over their head and blatantly told that social security don't care about the kids. That of course burnt my ass and I told him about himself where he could go and just all in all went into a rage. I figured it was easier than going to jail for attempted murder. But it just goes to show how the working class views us on it.
to willie: from what I gather there is a federal law dating back to the 70's, stating s.s. cannot be reduced and if so there has to be a replacement to make up the difference. I don't have all the details but being told that is enough to tell me no matter what, the low-income and poor people still and always will pay for everything..live on little or nothing after you pay your bills from s.s., I mean that literaly Anonomous
Hello. I'm on Social Security Disability, and I am totally confused about whether I WILL or WILL NOT receive another $250 economic stimulus in either late 2009 (November or December) or in 2010. I've been searching this answer for weeks and it's difficult to get past all the political talk and the confusing packages that are available for new homeowners, cars, middle-class incomes, etc., etc., that I can't find a straight and clear answer to this question.
All I want to know is: As a Social Security Disability recipient, has a bill been approved that will give me another $250 stimulus? And if so, WHEN could I expect to get this?
(As millions of other Americans, I need this information especially in light of the fact that I will NOT be receiving a cost-of-living increase, despite the fact that my medical bills have INCREASED. I also don't understand the rationale that economically, according to many talking-heads and politicians, that the economy has stabilized or is even better. Really? Someone better let the pharmacies, hospitals, physicians, imaging centers, etc., that my expenses for these services is LESS than they were last year! Seriously?!? Last year, my generic prescription costs almost DOUBLED from $4 to $7. And I'm on 21 different medications. This is a HUGE expense for me, and I, again like many others, have to ration what medications I take and can afford, even though my LIFE is at risk if I don't take the meds I need as prescribed.)
So far, what I've seen in your column, you're the closest to answering these questions clearly, so I hope you can answer this one for me.
@ Carrie. I would call your local SS office again and explain your situation. You can also the national toll free number @ 1-800-772-1213.
@ Gayle – The additional 2010 payment has not been approved yet (you should have already got the 2009 payment earlier this year). President Obama wants the $250 extra payment – which will be made in Spring of 2010 if approved – but the Senate needs to approve it. So far I cannot see a bill in congress for this new payment, but I expect to see it after all the health care reform is completed later this month. I will update the article as soon as I hear anything.
Thanks to all the commenters as well and it's good to see the different viewpoints on this payment.
If this is past, I would appreciate the 250 additional income. Yet, what I would like more is a cost of living adjustment increase. My bills are not getting cheaper. Necessities like food, clothing, and house hold maintenance is not flatlining in price. I have reduced all unneccessary expenses and still have nothing left over to put into savings.
Thanks very much! I'll keep watching your website!
Gayle
HELLO. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THIS..THE PEOPLE DON'T TELL THE PRESIDENT WHAT TO DO HE SHOULD THINK FOR HIMSELF AND SHOULD KNOW WHAT'S RIGHT OR WRONG. SO WHAT IF THEY ARE GIVING OUT MORE MONEY IT WILL HELP THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE FINICAL PROBLEMS AND ARE IN DEBTS. FOR THOSE OF YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT TELLS THE PRESIDENT TO STOP SPENDING AND PAY HIS OR HER DOCTOR IT'S NOT UP TO THE PRESIDENT TO PAY YOUR DOCTOR IT'S UP TO YOUR DOCTOR'S BOSS TO PAY YOUR DOCTOR. I MEAN I KNOW THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE SERIOUSLY ILL AND IN NEED OF WORK BUT WE DO NEED TO THINK OF OTHERS AND NOT THINK OF OURSELVES. IN OVERALL LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORRY ABOUT HOW THE PRESIDENT SPENDS MONEY..
@Gayle You Said You Were Paying $7 For Most Of your Meds!!! Walmart Pharmacy Has Generics For $4 For A 30 Day Supply Or $10 For A 90 Day Supply I Just Pick Up A Generic List At Walmart And I Take It To The Dr. And Tell Them If I Need A Med. It Has To Be One On That Is On That List And In Many Cases They Find One That Will Work I Don't Know If This Helps But Us On SSI/SSA/SSD Have To Cut Cost When We Can Cause The Damn U. S. Government Won't Do Any Thing But Hurt Us While They Say They Are Tring To Help US!!! If You Need More Info On This Please Feel Free To Go To http://www.walmart.com And Look Under Ther Pharmacy Tab… Oh Yea I Almost Forgot It Doesn't Matter If You Have Medicaid Or Medicare They Can Fill The $4 Drugs Wither You Have Insurance Or Not!!!
Is this for SSI recipients too, or just Social Security Disability?
The $250 Social Security Stimulus payment has to go through committe and then through the congress which will take months if it even passes. How long did it take for Congress to approve their pay raise.
I'm disabled, pretty much stuck in a bed, and I live on SSI and food stamps. The SSI is $674 a month, and the food stamp allotment is $120. Every year when the announcement came telling me what my COLA would be for the coming year, it would be accompanied by a second notice from the Washington State food stamp office announcing that they would be taking forty percent of my increase off my food stamps. This has happened every year there was a COLA. This year they did't get to steal anything back. I almost feel bad for them.
Houston, Tx Disabled
thankyou for considering another $250.00 that will pay my part of my medicare ($165.60) with the rest i can eat for a couple of days. But i won't be able to buy my eye glasses and dentures
i can use and need the stimulus and i noticed that all the complaining people certainly dont have any problem spending the ones they receive
I am disabled. And on a fixed income,like most I live from one check to the next check.And it is not easy!Every thing keeps going up!!And they say NO RAISE FOR TWO YRS.!!! Well,my insurance copays, medications,rent,and grocery,and other expenses keep going up!Transportation cost just to get around locally is up from last year!NO COLA INCREASE!!That not a good thing to happen for seniors,disabled,retirees,and Vets.I've worked very hard in this country from childhood.And over half of my adult life, up until I became ill.And just bearly making it,and having to deal with chornic illness and such is enough to worry about.Who needs to think of not enough food,or medications because of not enough money to the end of the month!But,I will accept the $250.00 that President Obama is wanting to give to us.And I say thanks.Because, I'm not turning down help!As long as I'm in need of it..Besides, maybe it will help put an extra loaf of bread on the table!And a couple of extra pills in my bottle.
This so called stimulus is just that "SC-CALLED" it is the biggest most blatant outright BS LIE the government has ever told its people!!
They know that just because this only affects the poor that no one will give a damn. And they are right no one does give a damn!
This traitorous,treasonistic band of imbecilic thieves known as congress and the senate know damn well that the cost of living index (if the truth were known). If it was actually figured on a real humans(not a politician)the actual cost of living,they would have to double or triple all checks given out to the disabled and retired folks.
But since (I guess in college)where polititians get thier training in Deceptive warfare against the enemy (us) training class,Bold Face Lying 101,Callous disregardation (a 2 semester class in which extra credit is given when Ass kissing has been properly done to your Liberal professors) and I'm sure thier must be a class called 'How to steal from your grandparents and make them like it'. I thought you had to be a secret agent to be trained in these subversive arts?
I am so proud that we now have a Zen master of lying and deception in charge not only president but the true and master Jedi of all things underhanded and disgusting,as well as a world class masticator of facts. This person is the one and only (ta da)never before equalled Champion of let them eat cake cause we are going to eat them philosophy Ms. Nancy Pelosi!!!!! (take a bow-wow Nancy)
We have the people that should impress the world at thier ability of taking the only dime from a poor,hungry,crippled,aged, homeless dying person and making them feel guilty about it because they didn't have a quarter or (god forbid were politically incorrect). If that dying person doesn't want to give it up then of course they are (by government,meaning Pelosi) now racisists too. After all Obama is (of course he'd never overuse the term) a Black president and Pelosi is a woman!! That makes dying daddy a shamefull racisist and sexist too.
My point is we gotta get them ALL OUT OF OFFICE!! Democrats and republicans and put real people in office. You know the type people that have actually gone grocery shopping for themselves and knows what a loaf of bread really costs now not 25 years ago.Us "people" that have to stoop so low on the evolutionary scale as to have been forced to change our own oil.
Well I've ranted enough (not yet even touched the tip of the iceberg)
Thank you for giving a place to possbly let the little people at least vent for a few minutes.
Signed:
I will not feel guilty for being low income or white or christian or an amputee any longer.
The whole thing is a bunch of BS…When we get the money , it will go back to them for this joke health plan. Think about it. My wife is going through Breast Cancer, and my spine is crooked….still going to fight. I am 72 and not going to die for them. That;s waht they want. Do you realize how many seniors exist??? I do feel sorry for you youg people…you will get the brunt of the whole thing in about 3 years. Wait and see. Man it feels good to be able to bitch.
He,,being the president is going to continue spending until we,the american people take him out of office.
Just my opinion
I say
IMPEACH
For all of those out there that oppose this stimulus – you must not need the money and probably don't give a damn about those ppl like us who fall through the cracks. We are on one income, have 4 ppl in the house, my disability case is pending b4 the supreme court, and my husband's SSD is $5 too high for approval for food stamps. We have to go to the food bank every two weeks. For those of you who have money to pay for food – I guess you don't know how humbling it is for two formerly well paid silicon valley engineer to be struck down by catastrophic disabilities to have to stand in line for food two days out of the month. Our medication costs have quadrupled because we both suffer from mental disabilities that require special formulated medications that are not on any approved list of discounted Rx's. We can't afford our automobile registration on top of all of our other incidentals. it is not our fault that the Madoff's of the world put us in this financial crisis. Blame Greenspan for thinking that the stock mkt can regulate itself.
We need every dime we can get in. I say give us the stimulus. Certainly the banking officials get their bonuses for screwing up this economy. They don't deserve a red cent as far as I'm concerned.
dont see how they get a no cost of living increase… Where the hell do THEY live? I want to live there if their prices are so much cheaper!I
And,,,so again the children on survivors benefits, and mothers are not qualified to stimulate the economy? SO the economy didnt effect these people huh.
the government has already decided what they think will be in our best interest with out any feed back from us the people. i think the no cola for the next two years stinks but i guess i have to take it with a grain of salt as i am one of those who voted for these over paid morons to make my life more miserable. i live on 811.00 a month and if the cheap bastards can only find it in the budget to give me an extra 250 then ill take it as every penny helps. lets just see if it gets approved first. i wont hold my breath
I have an idea. Those of you who do not need the stimulus should just return your check. Or better yet, send it to me! Lord knows after working for 42 years and now living on social security, I sure could use an extra $250.
It's not that I don't appreciate the extra $250 but in my opinion, the system is all wrong. People are penalized because they make $10 dollars too much in order to get any assistance. You can't through good money after bad…its been done too many times. The problem is "the system" and until our government gets off their butts and does something about it, then we will never get out of this pathetic situation.
People are denied benefits then they turn to stealing, or not telling the truth just to get the benefits they "NEED" … yes NEED…and that is what its all about. If people are lying about their situation in order to have food, then what does that say? It's like SSI…if your husband makes too much, your cut off. Why is that? It should not matter how much your partner makes, it should be based on your disability. Then give the people enough to live on. I'm not saying fill their pockets with tax payers money, but ggeezzz… a person can only be pushed so far. What does it take to make these "government workers" to realize that if you have "no" money or "no" means to live, eat and pay utilities, then we live on the street and if I understand the law correctly, that's illegal. What are people suppose to do? Change the system and make it affordable for all that way, not sending a few hundred dollars that will not last but a few minutes while your in the grocery store. We need "LONG" term help.
I am so glad. This will help me pay my car loan off. I will then have 300.00 more a month to live on. Or if it comes after my car is paid off I can put butane in my tank and 250.00 in butane will last a year for me.
I think that we on Social Security are getting screwed again. We won’t get a cost of living raise for 2 years but you can bet congress will. Granite the cost of gasoline and interest rates are lower but other things are higher. Taxes for everyday items are higher in order to offset the revenue for taxes lost from the income of people who have lost their jobs. Then of course there is realestate taxes that have gone up and the value of homes have gone down, what’s with that? I think that come next election we should clean house in congress. Another thing, who ever heard of buying your way out of debt. The banks, insurance and auto companies managed their operations poorly, why should we have bailed them out? The only way for the U.S. to get out of this depression is to create jobs not paid for by the government, bring back the jobs that were outsourced to other countries, get rid of robots that take the place of people as they don’t buy the products they produce and do what ever it takes to stop depending on foreign oil.
why do we have to wait iam so poor i cant have a decent place to live our goverment is broken why dont you people care for us seniors and americans i agree congress got a raise the hell with us right we need help god bless us all.
We work 50 years and try to save some money hoping that the interest we would earn would help in our old age instead we need our savings to just live there goes our retirement funds we get .06% on our savings That is $ 6.00 for every $1ooo we get no cola and everything is going up except clothes because anything that uses oil is costing us more and thats about everything you ask where are on golden years, the things that we put off for tomorrow we might never have a chance to do it, isn’t nice to see the fat cows get millions in bonuses, and we have to spend we saved and leave nothing for our children. God Bless all of us.
What did everyone do before there was Social Security. You know what they did they survived and raised their own food. Go and do you likewise. Even in a widow box or community garden.
This Cola freeze effects us even more than we know. If they just keep sending out a check once a year and not giving us a cost of living increase, they are basically saving money on our backs. No increase in our benfits for 2 or three years will save them millions in the long run. Say this year we should have recieved a 2.5% increase on $1000. Thats $1025 this year, 2.5% in 2011 = $1051, So in 2 years they avoided 2.5% increase for 2 years for $51 bucks, so in 2012 or 2013 your COLA will still be based on the 2010 dollar amount $1000 not the actual $1051. See how sneaky they are. We all know that prices have gone way up and won’t ever drop again, so this pres and congress are full of crap.