Celebrating Our Recent Social Security Fairness Act Milestone and What It May Mean for You
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: July 10, 2025
We recently celebrated a key milestone by announcing that we completed sending over 3.1 million payments, totaling $17 billion, to beneficiaries eligible under the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA), 5 months ahead of schedule. When the SSFA became law on January 5, 2025, we identified about 2.8 million current Social Security beneficiaries whose benefits were reduced because of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO). We successfully completed actions on these records by July 7, 2025, exceeding our original estimate of it taking a year or more. Below is additional information on what this milestone may mean for you, depending on your status when SSFA became law.
Receiving benefits when SSFA became law?
If you received benefits between January 2024 and June 2025, had a pension from work not covered by Social Security, and your benefits during this period were reduced by WEP or GPO, you should have received any back payments owed to you. Your ongoing monthly benefits should also have been adjusted by July 2025. Please note that since we pay benefits the month after they are due, you may see the change in your benefit with the payment received in August 2025. If you have questions about your case, please call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. local time.
Filed a new claim after SSFA became law?
Since SSFA became law, we have also received over 278,000 new claims from people with pensions from work not covered by Social Security. We have processed 92% of these new claims so far. If you filed a new claim after the law took effect, we may still be working to process your application.
Need to file a claim?
If you have not yet filed a claim or are unsure if you have, you may need to apply. The date you apply can affect when your benefits start. The easiest way to apply for retirement or spouse’s benefits is online at www.ssa.gov/apply. If you are applying for spouse’s benefits, please select “Family Benefits.” This will guide you through the application for Retirement and Medicare benefits to make sure you get all the benefits you qualify for. Please note that survivor benefit applications are not available online.
If you have not applied before because of WEP or GPO, you can also apply by phone. Call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. local time.
For the most up-to-date information, please visit our Social Security Fairness Act webpage at www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html.
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Lynda A.
I am eligible for an increase in benefits per Fairness Act and have not received anything. When I called my local SSA office after reading this article, I was told that instead of the November deadline for completion, they are now saying cases would be settled by December. So frustrating!
mexico
Are ssa payments getting cut also
Dave S.
i don’t recieve ssa payment??
Katherine J.
This is inaccurate. I am entitled to an adjustment, as my benefits were reduced under WEP, but as of 7/10/2025 I have received nothing. When I call customer service all they can tell me is that they are still working on it.
Sandra B.
Read the above, it says plainly they are always a month behind meaning you should get yours in August 2025.
Mary F.
I have had the same experience. Each time I have called, they are still working on it. I have called numerous times and have been to the social security office to verify my identity, talked to supervisors, and have had no luck. I feel I have slipped through the cracks and am being ignored!!!! My case is not that difficult!
Amaanat J.
I am waiting for my new debit card
Jeff
Please revisit the “qualifications section” for SSI for the elderly (over 65) If it weren’t for a very small 401k some would qualify for more help.
Paula B.
SSI is administered by the social security administration but it is not Social Security. Other income has nothing to do with Social Security
Elaine L.
The hard working Federal workers at the Social Security Administration did an incredible job in processing the claims in response to the SSFA. An unprecedented workload accomplished in record time. A big thanks to all. Federal workers AGAIN meeting and exceeding the task requirements.
Paula B.
Agree!
Robert s.
Nice to see this. But i’ve been waiting 3 years for my childrens benefits. I notified you 5 times about this. And you keep ignoring me. I sent you all the paper work twice. I paid into social security since i was 14 years old. You left me and my family in poverty. Congress approved these funds years ago so we would not go into poverty. You have failed badly.
Glenda M.
While grateful for the Fairness Act, still doesn’t seem fair that affected recipients only got one year of back pay. If the law is unfair now, it was unfair when it was implemented. Feel that my husband who is a disabled veteran got robbed of social security pay he should have received when he first applied for SSA benefits.
Paula B.
If you think that is unfair, they still haven’t notified people who need to file an application, and they only pay back 6 months from the date of application
Joseph T.
I still say I got duped. When I applied for SS I was told that my payment would be reduced based on my years of federal service. Now I’m told that I wasn’t after my visit to SS office to find out why I haven’t received my payment. I was told that I received a retro payment back in April but was never told why, SS office said that my annuity was recalculated??? Ok know that I had received a notice from SS awhile back that I was no longer affected by WEP due to continued work, SS Ofice could not provide the provide the letter/notice, so if SS is claiming they are completed, it’s only 99.999% complete.
Jim
It’s nice to see federal employees who survived the purges are getting some needed benefits. Too bad there are so many who lost out.
Wendy G.
Are ssa payments getting cut also
Sandrie M.
I’m a disabled widow who did not receive a spouses pension after my husband died, and was told my social security benefit only entitled me to the difference between my retirement benefits and his, so as poor as I am, I only received $36. Since I wasn’t receiving the maximum amount of benefits, I feel the spouse’s pension should have raised my benefit, at least, to that amount, since my household income plummeted by more than half when my husband died in 2018!!!