Millions of Social Security<\/a> recipients could get an extra $200 a month under a proposal backed by Senator Bernie Sanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dubbed the \u201cBernie Bump,\u201d the increase would be paid on top of beneficiaries\u2019 regular Social Security benefits and annual cost-of-living adjustment. If approved, the boost would apply to nearly all current beneficiaries, including retirees, people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance and those receiving survivor benefits.<\/p>\n The proposal is part of Sanders\u2019 Social Security Expansion Act<\/a>, introduced in February 2025. In addition to raising monthly benefits, the legislation<\/a> would change how future COLAs are calculated. Instead of using the current inflation measure, the bill would use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, which places greater weight on expenses such as health care and prescription drugs that tend to make up a larger share of older Americans\u2019 budgets.<\/p>\n The legislation would also increase the amount of income<\/a> subject to Social Security payroll taxes. Under the proposal, earnings above $250,000 would once again be subject to the tax. Sanders\u2019 office says the change would leave 91 percent<\/a> of households earning $250,000 or less without a tax increase.<\/p>\n The proposed benefit increase comes as Social Security faces a long-term financial challenge. The program\u2019s trust funds<\/a> are projected to be depleted in 2032 <\/a>without congressional action, which could result in an across-the-board reduction in benefits.<\/p>\n Vermont Senator Sanders \u2013\u00a0a left-leaning independent who caucuses with the Democrats \u2013\u00a0has urged lawmakers to address the program\u2019s finances while increasing benefits for Americans who rely on Social Security.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Congress does not act within the next six years, Social Security benefits will be cut by 22 percent. We have an obligation to the American people to ensure that never happens,\u201d Sanders wrote<\/a> in an August 3 letter to colleagues. \u201cJust as importantly, we have a responsibility to tell the American people exactly where we stand. Americans deserve to know not only how we will extend Social Security\u2019s solvency, but how we will address the retirement crisis facing millions of seniors today.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the attention surrounding the \u201cBernie Bump,\u201d the $200 increase is not currently being paid. The Social Security Expansion Act remains a proposal and would need to pass Congress and be signed into law before the additional payments<\/a> could begin.<\/p>\n There is currently no scheduled start date for the proposed increase. Until then, beneficiaries will continue receiving Social Security payments under the existing system, including any COLA increases approved under current law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1182697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,2499,16,15],"class_list":["post-1182696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117202198724199349","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1182696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1182696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1182696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1182697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1182696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1182696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1182696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788363508_714_2261843151...jpeg\")
The \u2018Bernie Bump,\u2019 named for Sen. Bernie Sanders, would give Social Security recipients an extra $200 a month – $2,400 a year – on top of their annual cost-of-living adjustment (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n