In January, prior to stepping down from office, former President Joe Biden signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act. As a result, two provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) – were repealed and a significant number of beneficiaries had their full benefits restored to them.
Subsequently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been working tirelessly to update the impacted cases. According to a recent update, it appears that the agency is nearing the finish line with this task.
Here is what you need to know.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act effectively repealed the provisions of the WEP and the GPO. These two provisions caused public sector workers to have their benefits reduced – or eliminated entirely – due to alternate pensions being provided by their employers.
Around 3.2 million public sector employees, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, and certain federal employees, were affected by the WEP and the GPO, however with the Social Security Fairness Act coming into effect, this cohort will now have their full benefits restored to them.
In addition to an increased benefit amount, the impacted beneficiaries will also receive a retroactive payment. This will be a once off, lump sum payment and it could date as far back as January 2024.
The agency also noted in its update that “anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a past due payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or past due payment.”
According to the SSA, the agency began updating the impacted cases in February.
In a press release from April 29th, the SSA stated, “SSA has made significant strides in implementing the Social Security Fairness Act, having paid over $14.8 billion in retroactive payments to more than 2.2 million individuals affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, the agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more to issue payments now will apply to only complex cases that cannot be processed by automation.”
When will the SSA complete updating these cases?
The SSA was able to streamline the adjustment process for a large majority of the affected cases through the use of an automated system. The remaining cases, however, have to adjusted manually by an employee of the SSA and as a result, it will take additional time to be fully processed.
“For the many complex cases that cannot be processed automatically, additional time is required to manually update the records and pay both retroactive benefits and the new benefits amount,” the SSA explained in an update on its website. “We are expediting these cases now.”
Overtime has been offered to SSA employees in exchange for working during the weekends so as to adjust the remaining cases as timeously as possible. Previously, the agency shared its expectation that “all beneficiary records will be updated by early November 2025.”
The recently appointed Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano, on the other hand, has directed SSA employees to give priority to all outstanding Fairness Act cases over other queries with the goal of having all of these claims adjusted by July 1st — according to a report in USA Today.
However, in an email to CBS MoneyWatch, a spokesperson for the SSA clarified that, “SSA is not setting aside or deferring work as it prioritizes the SSFA cases. There have been no disruptions to service. SSA is committed to pay the right person the right amount at the right time.”
It appears that Commissioner Bisignano might possibly have his expectations met because, according to the SSA website, as of June 20th, the SSA has completed the adjustments of 99% of the cases impacted by the Social Security Fairness Act.