Seniors hit hard by SSA

MORE than 65 million seniors got their pockets picked last week, and the hue and cry could be heard across the country.

The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that there would be no costofliving adjustment (COLA) for 2016.

Yes, America’s elderly, who paid into the system with each paycheck, are getting screwed.

And that’s due to the way the SSA’s COLA calculation is done — it essentially comes directly from the notoriously inaccurate Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Why not use the “Core CPI,” which strips out food and energy and is not subject to the volatile swings in commodities prices?

As if the static benefit level were not bad enough, Medicare Part D is jacking up costs — though the premiums have to remain the same.

Next year for Medicare Part D, seniors will see significant increases in what I call the “Real Costs.”

Medicare’s deductible in 2015 is $320. In 2016, it’s going up to $360 — a 12.5 percent increase.

The Initial Coverage Limit will be raised to $3,310 in 2016 from $2,960 in 2015 — an 11.8 percent increase.

And even more unfair: The Catastrophic Limit is going up from $7,062 this year to $7,515 in 2016. That’s a 6.4 percent jump in a coverage the elderly need most.

To deny seniors even a modest increase in benefits is unscrupulous. But it is beyond distasteful to have Medicare raise deductibles and coverage thresholds and claim there is no cost increase in Medicare premiums.

The Obama administration has the distinction of being the only presidency to rook seniors not once but three times — 2010, 2011 and 2016.

That’s a hat trick no leader should want.

Executive orders are now commonly used to skirt regulations. If the administration really cares about a generation that has given much to this country, why not issue such an order now for even a modest increase that would give our elderly invaluable peace of mind?