The records of all 3.2 million people who are due a benefit increase under the Social Security Fairness Act will be updated by early November, the Social Security Administration said on June 10.
The law repealed two rules — the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset — that cut benefits for some longtime public-sector workers and their spouses. For affected beneficiaries, it granted a raise retroactive to January 2024.
The Social Security Fairness Act, H.R. 82, was signed into law by former President Joe Biden on Jan. 5.
In late February, SSA said that it was "immediately beginning to pay retroactive benefits."
Most affected beneficiaries began receiving their new monthly amount in April for their March benefit. Social Security benefits are paid one month behind.
"Public sector workers impacted by the Government Pension Offset and/or the Windfall Elimination Provision have started to be made whole by the enactment of the Social Security Fairness Act, but such beneficiaries have reported delays in these payment as a result of the overall decline in customer service that occurred as a result of DOGE activities at the Social Security Administration," Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said Friday in an email.
"If a beneficiary is due additional benefits as a result of the Act, they will receive a one-time payment, deposited into the bank account SSA has on file," SSA said. "This payment will cover the increase in their benefit amount back to January 2024, the month when WEP and GPO no longer applies."
SSA has been able to expedite payments using automation. "For the many complex cases that cannot be processed automatically, additional time is required to manually update the records and pay both past due benefits and the new benefits amount," SSA said.
People benefiting from the new law include some teachers, firefighters, and police officers in many states; federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system, SSA explained.
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