Many beneficiaries are also set to receive higher benefits starting in April.
The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the payment of billions of dollars to more than a million Americans after two provisions that reduced or eliminated benefits for certain individuals were recently repealed.
Last week, the agency said that it will start paying retroactive payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). Through March 4, “SSA has already paid 1,127,723 people more than $7.5 billion in retroactive payments,” the agency said in a March 4 statement. “The average retroactive payment so far is $6,710.”
The WEP and GPO provisions “reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a non-covered pension).”
In January, former President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) which ended both GPO and WEP. Since the provisions no longer applied as of January 2024, millions of Social Security beneficiaries became eligible for retroactive payments.
“President Trump made it very clear he wanted the Social Security Fairness Act to be implemented as quickly as possible,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We met that challenge head-on and are proudly delivering for the American people.”
SSA said it continues to pay the remaining retroactive payments.
Furthermore, the elimination of WEP and GPO makes many beneficiaries eligible for higher monthly benefits starting in April. The exact increase in payment will depend on factors such as the type of Social Security benefit they receive and the amount of pension received.
Teachers, police officers, firefighters, federal workers covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, and employees whose work is covered by a foreign social security system stand to gain under the new changes.
Beneficiaries set to receive retroactive benefits or see an adjustment in monthly benefits will receive a mail notice from the Social Security Administration explaining the matter.
Most people receiving retroactive payments may get their notice two to three weeks after receiving payments since “the President understands how important it is to pay people what they are due right away,” SSA said.
