Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama plans to drop his proposal to reduce cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other benefit programs in the budget his administration releases March 4 for the 2015 fiscal year.

The so-called chained-CPI formula was part of a bid by the president to engage in deficit-reduction negotiations with Republicans. It wasn't adopted after a standoff over taxes and spending. It also was criticized by many congressional Democrats and some of Obama's political allies.

Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said the proposal remains on the table if talks on deficit reduction resume.

Imposing a revised formula on Social Security and other programs with cost-of-living adjustments, which was proposed in the budget Obama sent to Congress last year, would save $162.5 billion over 10 years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in November.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

  • Critical BenefitsPRO information including cutting edge post-reform success strategies, access to educational webcasts and videos, resources from industry leaders, and informative Newsletters.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM, BenefitsPRO magazine and BenefitsPRO.com events
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.