Agency Speeds Up Social Security Fairness Act Timeline, Millions to Benefit

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced an expedited timeline for implementing the Social Security Fairness Act, which aims to increase benefits for millions of people affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). The agency is now set to begin paying retroactive benefits and increasing monthly payments as early as February and April, respectively.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in January 2025, eliminates the WEP and GPO, which reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security. The law increases Social Security benefits for certain types of workers, including some teachers, firefighters, police officers, federal employees, and people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system.

The SSA's aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump's priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible. The agency's original estimate of taking a year or more now applies only to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation.

People who will benefit 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. Many beneficiaries will be due a retroactive payment because the WEP and GPO offset no longer apply as of January 2024. Most people will receive their one-time retroactive payment by the end of March, which will be deposited into their bank account on record with Social Security.

Many of these people will also receive higher monthly benefits, which will first be reflected in the benefit payment they receive in April. Depending on factors such as the type of Social Security benefit received and the amount of the person's pension, the change in payment amount will vary from person to person.

Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a retroactive payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or retroactive payment. Most people will receive their retroactive payment two to three weeks before they receive their notice in the mail, because the President understands how important it is to pay people what they are due right away. Social Security is expediting payments using automation and will continue to handle many complex cases that must be done manually, on an individual case-by-case basis. Those complex cases will take additional time to update the beneficiary record and pay the correct benefits.

Social Security urges beneficiaries to wait until April to ask about the status of their retroactive payment, since these payments will process incrementally into March. Since the new monthly payment amount will begin with the April payment, beneficiaries should wait until after receiving their April payment before contacting Social Security with questions about their monthly benefit amount.

Visit the agency's Social Security Fairness Act webpage to learn more and stay up to date on its progress. Visitors can subscribe to be alerted when the webpage is updated.

In conclusion, the SSA's expedited timeline for implementing the Social Security Fairness Act will provide much-needed relief to millions of people affected by the WEP and GPO. The retroactive payments and increased monthly benefits will have a positive impact on the spending patterns and economic activity of the beneficiaries, with potential multiplier effects contributing to job creation and economic growth.