February 26, 2025

Social Security Fairness Act implementation update

Yesterday, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that starting this week (Feb. 24, 2025), the agency is beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people who were affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).

Beneficiaries who are owed retroactive benefits will receive a one-time retroactive payment. This payment will date back to January 2024, the month when WEP and GPO no longer applied.

Social Security benefits are paid one month behind, so most affected beneficiaries will begin receiving their new monthly benefit amount in April 2025 (for their March 2025 benefit).

The agency has expedited payments through automation but cautioned that complex cases cannot be processed automatically and will require additional time.

Affected beneficiaries are urged to wait until April to inquire about the status of their retroactive payment since these payments will be processed incrementally throughout March.

For more information, please visit SSA’s Social Security Fairness Act web page.