In January, former President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (SSFA) into law. We discussed the key changes in a blog post entitled Enactment of the Social Security Fairness Could Mean Increase in Social Security Benefits for Some Public School Employees. Since then, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has released additional FAQs, and following is a summary of the SSA updates.
Q1: How will eligible beneficiaries know if they can expect an increase in payments because of the new law?
The SSA is beginning to mail out notices to affected beneficiaries. People affected may receive two notices: one notice when the old law provisions are removed from their SSA record, and an additional notice at the time their monthly benefit is adjusted to reflect their new monthly payment amount.
Q2: When will the SSA start to pay the increased monthly benefits to beneficiaries affected by the new law?
Social Security benefits are paid after the end of the month for the prior month. Most affected beneficiaries will begin receiving their increased monthly benefit amount in April 2025 to reflect their March 2025 benefit.
Q3: When will the SSA start to pay the retroactive benefits to beneficiaries affected by the new law?
The SSA is beginning to pay retroactive benefits owed for the 2024 year starting the week of February 24, 2025.
Q4: How will the SSA pay the retroactive benefits to beneficiaries affected by the new law?
Beneficiaries affected by the repealed provisions who are eligible to receive a retroactive payment will receive a one-time retroactive payment. The one-time retroactive payment will be deposited into the bank account the SSA has on file for the beneficiary by the end of March 2025.
Q5: When should a beneficiary contact the SSA regarding questions the beneficiary has about the increased benefit payments?
Because Social Security benefits are paid one month behind, affected beneficiaries should wait until after receiving their April 2025 payment before contacting the SSA with questions.