If you’re one of the nearly 3 million Americans impacted by the Social Security Fairness Act, there’s good news: the Social Security Administration (SSA) has processed about 91% of all benefit increases and retroactive lump-sum payments tied to the new law.
Passed in January 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act eliminated two controversial provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that had reduced benefits for many public-sector workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers, as well as those with foreign pensions.
Initially, officials warned beneficiaries might wait over a year for adjustments. But now, thanks to automation, the bulk of these changes are already completed. Affected individuals have received increases of $360 to over $1,000 per month, with retroactive payments dating back to January 2024.
SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano has committed to finishing all updates by early November — and, as he told the Senate, “while the weather is warm.”
Who’s Affected?
You qualify if you:
- Receive a public pension from work that didn’t pay into Social Security
- Are a Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) retiree
- Are covered under a foreign Social Security system
- Or are a Railroad Retirement beneficiary (new annuity amounts and back pay due by July)
However, not everyone in these groups qualifies. About 72% of state and local public employees already pay Social Security taxes, so they’re unaffected.
What’s Next?
Roughly 300,000 cases remain, mostly those requiring manual review — such as cases involving overpayments, deceased beneficiaries, or newly eligible individuals. These are being prioritized and could take longer to process.
There’s also buzz that Congress may ask the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the rollout and evaluate how efficiently SSA handled the change.
