Social Security Payment Boost Delayed by More Than 1 Year for Many Beneficiaries

A Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury in Washington on Oct. 14, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Social Security recipients anticipating an increase in their benefits under a law passed in the waning days of the Biden administration may need to wait more than a year longer than initially expected to see the higher payments, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

The legislation, known as the Social Security Fairness Act, was signed into law earlier this month by former President Joe Biden, who said at the signing that many beneficiaries affected by the measure would begin receiving the extra payments this year.

However, because the bill did not provide any additional funds for its implementation, and the SSA is working to help affected beneficiaries under its current budget, it could be a year or longer before recipients see the boosted benefits.

“Since the law’s effective date is retroactive, SSA must adjust people’s past benefits as well as future benefits,” the agency said in a Jan. 24 update. “Though SSA is helping some affected beneficiaries now, under SSA’s current budget, SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits.”

The Social Security Fairness Act repealed two tax provisions that had previously reduced payouts for individuals with government pensions, such as police officers, teachers, and firefighters. Further, over 2 million individuals were set to receive lump-sum payments of thousands of dollars to make up for a shortfall in benefits that they should have received in 2024 because the law was retroactive.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision will increase monthly benefits by an average of $360 for over 2 million Americans by December 2025. This benefit boost will rise to an average of $460 for around 1.8 million beneficiaries by 2033. Repealing the Government Pension Offset is expected to raise benefits by an average of $700 for 380,000 spouses of deceased recipients and $1,190 for another 390,000 spouses whose own benefits were reduced or eliminated by the provision.

Under the new law, SSA must adjust the benefits of over 3 million people. The agency says this is impossible to do more quickly without negatively affecting day-to-day customer service under current budget constraints. Further complicating the SSA’s ability to adjust the benefits quickly are staffing shortages and a hiring freeze, the agency says.

“SSA is finalizing its plan to implement the Act while limiting negative effects on our regular workloads and services to the public,” the agency said in the update. “We cannot yet provide an estimated timeframe for when we will adjust a person’s past or future benefits.”

The Social Security Fairness Act passed the House on Nov. 12 with bipartisan support in a 327–75 vote. Later, it passed the Senate in a similarly bipartisan 76–20 vote, with many Republicans, who tend to be more critical of increasing government spending, backing the bill.

Supporters of the measure called it a long overdue correction to provisions in the law that limited benefits for public servants. Critics said it would give an unfair financial boost to a select group of workers.

Biden signed the bill on Jan. 5, calling it a “big deal.”