Soooooo COLA - and how it is essentially useless (as usual):
So, I'm on SSI (one freaking work credit away from SSDI! and it's my only income. All of this year (2021) I've been receiving the max SSI ($794) and let's face it - that's not much when you live in a big, expensive, city like Seattle. Everyone has been rejoicing about COLA but it's basically the gov't do a tiny check mark of "calculate the cost of living for once past the Reagan Era beyond the usual 5 dollar or so raise.
HOWEVER. We (those of us who receive max SSI and nothing else) usually get our food benefits (at least in WA state don't get SNAP (food benefits at the state level; called DSHS here) from WASHCAP; a federal program. And sure enough! We get $40ish per month in SSI increase in January...but I just got a letter (with zero surprise) from Social Security WASHCAP saying they will be reducing my monthly food benefits by almost the same amount I'm getting "extra" from SSI! this is such ****! It seems to happen every year when SSI goes up (even only $5; WASHCAP goes down the same amount!