Benefits will shortly be increased for over 3.2 million Social Security recipients who got pensions from their employment as teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants. According to the organization, new monthly payments will start in April, and the majority of people will receive their one-time retroactive payment by the end of March.
In addition to sending higher monthly payments to those impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, which were repealed in the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act that former President Joe Biden signed into law last year, the Social Security Administration said it would immediately start processing retroactive payments.
Recipients of Social Security who received retirement benefits from other sources, such as state or local government public retirement programs, had their benefits reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.
Proponents claim that the Social Security Fairness Act corrects a long-standing inequity, but it also strains the Social Security Trust Funds, which are in danger of going bankrupt.
Last May, the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report stated that starting in 2035, the program’s trust fund will not be able to provide full benefits. The program’s bankruptcy date will be accelerated by around six months due to the new law.
According to a statement from Social Security acting commissioner Lee Dudek, the agency’s aggressive plan to begin retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments starting in April supports President Trump’s goal of implementing the Social Security Fairness Act as soon as possible. Benefits should be provided to the American people as soon as feasible.
Teachers, firefighters, police officers nationwide, and those whose labor was previously covered by a foreign social security system are among the beneficiaries of the new law.
According to a statement from the Social Security Administration, the majority of people will get their one-time retroactive payment by the end of March, and new monthly payments will start in April. These payments will be put into the bank account that is on file with Social Security.
According to the Congressional Research Service, 745,679 people, or almost 1% of all Social Security recipients, had their payments lowered by the Government Pension Offset as of December 2023. The Windfall Elimination Provision affected over 2.1 million persons, or roughly 3% of all beneficiaries.
As some payments will proceed incrementally throughout March, SSA advises beneficiaries to wait until April to check the status of their retroactive payment.
One of the main points of dispute in the 2024 election was the future of Social Security, which has emerged as a major political issue. Social Security benefits are received by approximately 72.5 million people, including children, retirees, and those with disabilities.
— The Associated Press’s Fatima Hussein
