H.R. 5841 — Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act

This section revises the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) provisions for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits and certain pre-1979 law benefits under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)) to base COLAs on the percentage increase in the higher of (1) the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) or (2) the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), effective for cost-of-living computation quarters ending on or after September 30, 2026. (As background, OASDI benefits, which provide retirement, survivor, and disability income to approximately 70 million beneficiaries, are adjusted annually for inflation; CPI-E, to be newly published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for individuals aged 62 and older, reflects elderly-specific spending patterns such as higher healthcare costs and is expected to yield larger COLAs than CPI-W in many years.) The section further (1) specifies that other federal laws keyed to Social Security COLAs apply them as if based solely on CPI-W; (2) directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to publish CPI-E, using its existing research CPI for those aged 62 and older (R-CPI-E) as a transition index; and (3) makes conforming amendments.