(PRNewswire)-A proposed one per cent Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) cut would cost American seniors as much as $54,954 throughout a 25-year retirement, according to a new analysis released recently by the Senior Citizens League.

The league is a U.S. seniors advocacy group that claims 1.2 million supporters.

The organization’s analysis is based on a proposal to slash the Social Security COLA detailed in a bipartisan report by the U.S. senate's Special Committee on Aging released in May.

That report is expected to serve as a blueprint for President Barack Obama's Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which will offer recommendations to slash the federal budget deficit.

The league’s study looked at three different scenarios compiled by the Senate Committee: a one percent COLA cut, a one-half percent COLA cut, and the introduction of a "chained" COLA, a cut of roughly three-tenths of a percent.

It then analyzed the amount of money seniors would lose in Social Security payments over a 10-, 20-, and 25-year retirement period:

Length of Retirement    One Percent Cut    One-Half Percent Cut    Chained COLA        

25 years                     -            $54,954          -         $28,555             -            $17,402        

20 years                     -            $32,023          -         $16,565             -            $10,060        

10 years                     -             $8,085           -         $4,103                -            $2,477        

"We recognize the need for the Social Security program to be put on more solid financial ground, but this is not the way to do it. We strongly oppose narrow-minded efforts to slash the COLA," said Daniel O'Connell, Senior Citizens League chairman.

"America's seniors know better than anyone how badly their Social Security checks have trailed inflation, and it would be bad policy to pass along even more severe pain to future retirees."

Another recent analysis by the organization concluded that U.S. seniors have lost 24 per cent of their purchasing power since 2000.

A majority of the 37 million Americans aged 65 and over who receive a Social Security check depend on it for at least 50 per cent of their total income, and one in three beneficiaries rely on it for 90 per cent or more of their total income.

The league has delivered a letter and issue brief to every member of congress today.  These strongly advocate against cutting the Social Security COLA for seniors. It is also encouraging its members to contact their lawmakers to help fight for a more fair COLA.   

The organization is lobbying for a change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to determine the COLA.

It points out that the government currently calculates the COLA based on the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a slow-rising index that tracks the spending habits of younger workers who don't spend as much of their income on health expenditures.

However, the government also tracks the spending patterns of older Americans, and has done so since 1983, through the CPI for Elderly Consumers, or CPI-E.

According to the league, tying the annual increase in the COLA to the CPI-E, seniors would see much needed relief in their monthly checks. For example, a senior who retired with a benefit of $460 in 1984 would have received $12,856 more over the past 26 years with the CPI-E, it states.

For further information, go to www.seniorsleague.org.