Millions of retired teachers, firefighters, police officers, and others with public pensions will benefit from the recently passed Social Security Fairness Act sooner than expected, federal officials said on Tuesday.
The Social Security Administration announced that it will begin paying retroactive benefits and increase monthly payments to the more than 3.2 million people affected by a law signed by former President Joe Biden in December.
The Social Security Fairness Act increased benefits for millions by repealing two federal policies that prevented employees with a public pension from receiving their full benefits under the federal retirement system. These policies also reduced benefits for the workers’ surviving spouses and family members.
Benefit increases under the new law would be retroactive to December 2023. As a result, eligible recipients who previously received only partial benefits will receive a full payment retroactive to one year ago.
“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to begin 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 soon as possible,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement.
“The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation,” Dudek claimed.
Most eligible Social Security recipients will receive a one-time retroactive payment by the end of March, which will be deposited into the bank account on file with the Social Security Administration. According to the agency, the change in payment amount will differ depending on the type of benefit and pension received.
The agency has asked beneficiaries to wait until April to inquire about the status of their retroactive payment. Visit the Social Security Fairness Act website to learn more about expanded Social Security benefits, such as who is eligible and when recipients’ payments will increase.
