Social Security Gets Cost of Living Boost WASHINGTON - The cost of living adjustment intended to help more than 47 million Social Security recipients keep up with inflation is expected to be a tad larger in 2005 than it was this year, but the bad news is that much of the increase will be eaten up by higher Medicare premiums.    The Social Security Administration was announcing the new cost of living adjustment, or COLA, Tuesday, but in advance of the release many private economists were predicting a gain of slightly better than 2.5 percent, which would be up from the increase Social Security recipients received at the beginning of this year of 2.1 percent...