SSA maintains a webpage on the Social Security Fairness Act, which it updates periodically. The latest update was January 24. Here are some of the highlights.
Not every teacher, firefighter, police officer or other public employee who worked in a noncovered job will be affected by the law. The ones who are affected fall into two categories. 1) Those who also worked in Social Security-covered jobs and whose Social Security benefits have been (or would have been) reduced for the WEP. The removal of the WEP under the new law will cause their Social Security benefit to increase. If they never worked in a covered job and therefore never qualified for Social Security on their own work record, this part of the law will not apply to them. 2) Those who are (or were) married and entitled to spousal or survivor benefits. Previously, their spousal or survivor benefit would have been reduced by two-thirds of their pension amount under the GPO. The new law nullifies this reduction and allows full spousal or survivor benefits to be paid to people who worked in noncovered jobs. A person whose current or prior marital status would not entitle them to a spousal or survivor benefit anyway would not be affected by this part of the new law.
SSA still can’t say when benefits will be adjusted for the new law. The Act requires SSA to adjust benefits for over 3 million people. Since the law’s effective date is in the past, SSA must adjust some people’s past benefits as well as future benefits. Processing these changes is very complex and SSA’s analysis shows that much of the work must be done manually, on an individual case-by-case basis. SSA is currently processing pending or new claims involving future benefits and developing procedures and automated solutions for computing retroactive benefits.
If an application was never made for spousal or survivor benefits because of the GPO, those who will now end up receiving benefits should submit an application as soon as possible. SSA will still collect pension information until the application is revised, but there will be no offset. Spousal benefits can be applied for online. Survivor benefits must be applied for in person by first making an appointment: 800-772-1213.
Medicare premiums that are being paid directly to CMS by those not currently receiving Social Security should continue to be paid directly until SSA sends a notice that Social Security has started (or increased) and Medicare premiums are now being deducted. People using Medicare Easy Pay can arrange to stop the ACH payments by completing the Authorization Agreement for Preauthorized Payments form (SF-5510) and sending it to the address on the form or online at Medicare.gov. Both options are located at Medicare Easy Pay. People using Online Bill Payment should contact their bank to stop their online bill payments.
Watch out for scams. SSA will never ask or require a person to pay either for assistance or to have their benefits started, increased, or paid retroactively.
SSA needs more funding. Under SSA’s current budget, SSA expects that it could take more than one year to adjust benefits and pay all retroactive benefits.
Keep up with future developments here.