Beneficiaries under Social Security Fairness Act could be waiting 'more than one year' for adjusted payments, SSA says

(NEXSTAR) – Over 3.2 million Americans are now eligible for new benefits under the recently passed Social Security Fairness Act, but many of them could be waiting for over a year to see their payments.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law by former President Joe Biden on Jan. 5, effectively repealed two longstanding provisions: the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. These provisions had previously prevented millions of Americans from receiving Social Security benefits — or receiving the full benefits of a deceased partner — if those Americans were already eligible for a pension or retirement program from their job.

Those provisions primarily affected Americans who were teachers, firefighters, police officers, or other employees with public service jobs.

The Social Security Administration, in an update to its website on Friday, said the department does not currently have the funding to execute the adjustments “in a timely manner and without negatively affecting day-to-day customer service.” The site also indicates that “this new and unfounded workload” is being further hampered by a hiring freeze implemented in Nov. 2024.

“Since the law's effective date is retroactive, SSA must adjust people's past benefits as well as future benefits,” reads a portion of the site which seeks to relay further “challenges” the SSA is facing in implementing the adjustments.

“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.”

In another section of the webpage, the SSA wrote that it “could not yet provide an estimated timeframe” for when any adjustments would be made, but promised to post updates on the site.

“We thank the public for its patience,” reads the webpage.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the end of the Windfall Elimination Provision would increase monthly benefits by $360, on average, for over two million affected Americans, by December 2025. The CBO estimated that the repeal of the Government Pension Offset provision would increase monthly benefits by $700, on average, for around 380,000 spouses of deceased Social Security recipients. Another 390,000 spouses were expected to see an increase of $1,190 per month, if they themselves were affected by a provision that reduced or eliminated their own Social Security benefits.

The new payments, however, are expected to put further strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis.

A representative for the Social Security Administration was not immediately available to comment on Friday’s updates.

“All SSA customers, including those not affected by the Act, will face delays and increased wait times as SSA prioritizes this new workload,” the update reads.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.