The other shoe in the Social Security increase

See Harry's post below this one for the Social Security increase.

The paltry 2.3% increase in Social Security, BEFORE the $2.50 increase in the deduction for the Medicare premium, comes at a time when Social Security recipients have lost 40% of their purchasing power since 2000, according to the same story (click on the headline on Harry's post to read the entire story).

In my case, I would get $35 more MINUS the $2.50 increase in the Medicare premium for a net gain of $32.50 a month (probably $32 if Social Security rounds it off).

My math couldn't figure out the part where the story said that the Medicare premium increase was 3.1%, or $2.50 more to $96.40 a month. If you increase the 2007 Medicare premium of $93.90 ($96.40 - $2.50 = $93.90) by 3.1%, that comes to $2.90 more a month. If the Medicare premium increases by $2.50, that's 2.662%. Maybe the government uses different math. Or my Monongah High math teacher, Mary Turkovich, taught me the wrong formulas.

Meanwhile, the Beacon Journal dumped an extra $1,200 in prescription costs on me in 9 months, which projects to an extra $1,600 per year for my prescriptions over the pre-Canadian costs. Let's see, at $32.50 more per month in my Social Security check, I can pay off the $1,600 increased tab for prescriptions in only 49 1/4 months.

Not even Miss Turkovich's math can reconcile that.