Public sector workers who are Social Security beneficiaries are in for a bit of good news as a recently passed bill will allow for these recipients to receive higher benefit payments after having had their benefits reduced in the past. In January, President Joe Biden signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act which thereby eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Increased Social Security benefits: here’s what to know
The previous WEP and GPO measures were aimed at “reduced or prevented Social Security benefits for more than 3.2 million people with a pension and whose past work wasn’t subject to Social Security taxes,” as per the Social Security Administration. Police officers, firefighters, postal workers, and public school teachers are amongst the impacted recipients.
Payments began rolling out from the SSA in February and as of March 5, over 1.1 million people had been paid $7.5 million in retroactive payments, according to the agency. Each retroactive payment amounted to an average of $6,710 and as of April 11, 81% of all retroactive payment adjustments had been processed for a total of 2.3 million people.
Going forward from and including April, all impacted recipients will begin receiving the new monthly payment total.
In a statement, acting commissioner Lee Dudek stated that, “President Trump made it very clear he wanted the Social Security Fairness Act to be implemented as quickly as possible.”
When will recipients see an increase in benefits?
According to the SSA, “any beneficiaries due to get a one-time retroactive payment – to cover the increase in their benefit amount back to January 2024 – should have seen the payment deposited in their banks by the end of March.”
The monthly benefit payment for March reflecting the new total will begin going out in April, with the payments for most beneficiaries going out every Wednesday throughout the month. As such, those whose birthdate falls between the 1st and 10th of the month would have been paid on April 9. Those with birthdates from the 11th to the 20th would have been paid on April 16, and those born after the 20th will have been paid on April 23.
The agency further shared that a notice explaining any changes to payments or benefit amounts will have been mailed by Social Security to beneficiaries who are eligible for a retroactive payment or adjusted monthly benefit.
The SSA has projected that all beneficiaries’ records will be updated by sometime in November 2025. This delay has been attributed to the fact that a significant portion of the cases need to be updated manually. “Additional time is required to manually update the records and pay both retroactive benefits and the new benefits amount,” the SSA shared on its Social Security Fairness Act page. “We are expediting these cases now.”
How much of an increase can beneficiaries expect?
The increased amount will be dependent on “the current benefit received and the amount of the beneficiary’s pension. Some recipients may be eligible for $1,000 or more additional benefits each month while others may get a very small increase,” according to the SSA.
If recipients are certain the Social Security Administration has their correct and updated mailing address and direct deposit details, the recipient need not do anything further, the agency has confirmed. However, if any individual wants to further verify the necessary information, they may do so by checking their account on the Social Security website. If you do not have an account or are struggling to access it, you should call 1-800-772-1213 to verify your information.
Additionally, if an individual in uncertain regarding whether or not they had previously applied for retirement, spouse’s, or surviving spouse’s benefits, they may need to file an application due to the pension measures. This can be done online at www.ssa.gov/apply.