The Social Security Administration (SSA) still owes tens of thousands of Americans more in Social Security benefits than they’ve paid so far because of how it is interpreting retroactivity rules following the enactment of the Social Security Fairness Act. To address this, a group of bipartisan U.S. senators is demanding that the SSA correct the disparity and issue extra payments in adherence to retroactivity rules.
About the Social Security Fairness Act
The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law in January 2025, eliminating the Windfall Elimination and the Government Pension Offset provisions. These provisions had been criticized for a long time for disproportionately reducing Social Security benefits for public-sector retirees such as firefighters, police officers, and teachers, many of whom had other jobs that paid into Social Security.
The new law now includes retroactive payments dating back to January 2024 that could see these retirees receive the benefits they had lost under the repealed rules. Although the process is still ongoing and some have already started to receive the retroactive payments, the implementation has become controversial.
The Controversy Surrounding the Social Security Fairness Act
Under the current SSA practice, many retirees applying for restored benefits are only being guaranteed six months of retroactive payments from the date of their most recent contact with the SSA. This is in contrast to the law that the retroactive payments should date back to January 2024.
Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), and John Fetterman (D-PA) sent a letter to the Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek at the beginning of April demanding a review of the policy. According to the senators, thousands of Americans were previously misinformed by SSA and told that they were ineligible for survivor or spousal benefits due to the GPO, hence missing some of their benefits.
“These spouses, including widows and widowers, have shared with me that when they contacted the Social Security Administration years ago inquiring into spousal benefits, they were told… their spousal benefits would be reduced to $0 due to the Government Pension Offset; and therefore, there was no need to file an application,” the senators wrote.
The senators insisted that now that the WEP and GPO provisions had been repealed, these individuals should qualify for spousal benefits, but instead, they were being granted a maximum of six months of retroactive payments from their most recent date of contact with the SSA.
Rules Behind Retroactive Benefits
Although SSA’s protective filing rules allow for retroactive payments from the date one first inquired about benefits, many SSA field offices are sticking to the six-month limit. This has caused confusion and frustration, especially among individuals who have realized recently that they were wrongly denied their benefits in the past.
“We ask SSA to review the agency’s policy and grant maximum retroactivity payments to all spouses who were protected on prior applications and wrongly advised by employees of SSA not to apply.” The senators demanded.
If the SSA agrees to review its interpretation, all affected individuals could receive thousands more in retroactive benefits. Considering the average for spousal benefit is $931 per month, those who missed out on one year’s back pay could lose over $5,500, which is a big loss.
Social Security Payments Already Disbursed
So far, the SSA has already disbursed $14.6 billion in retractive benefits to over 2.2 million retirees. In Maine, $158 million in retroactive payments has been disbursed to 23,697 beneficiaries.
However, there are still tens of thousands who have yet to receive the payments until now. “We ask SSA to review the agency’s policy and grant maximum retroactivity payments to all spouses who were protected on prior applications and wrongly advised by employees of SSA not to apply.”
How to Know If You’ll Get More Money
You may qualify for additional retroactive Social Security benefits if:
- You or your spouse worked in a public-sector job (teacher, police, firefighter, etc.)
- You were denied spousal or survivor benefits due to the Government Pension Offset.
- You contacted SSA before 2025 and were told you were ineligible.
- You have since applied but have only received six months of retroactive pay.
If this applies to you, contact SSA immediately and ask for a review under the protective filing rule. You can also reach out to your senator’s office, which may help escalate your case.