(NewsNation) — Social Security payments for certain recipients could be larger this week thanks to a law that was recently put into place.
According to Fox Business, those who received a public sector pension in retirement were restricted at first from receiving full benefits. This was due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
However, this changed with a law that was signed into law in January, right before former President Joe Biden left office.
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
According to the Social Security Fairness Act, those whose benefits were affected by the WEP and GPO provisions will see their monthly benefits increase. They should also receive a one-time payment that is retroactive to January of last year.
Those lump payments started going out in February, and beneficiaries who were affected will start seeing their new monthly benefit amounts this month.
When will I receive the new monthly payment?
Your new monthly benefits should start with your payment in April, according to the Social Security Administration. However, there could be a bit of a wait.
“We are expediting these cases now. We are releasing retroactive benefits and sending new monthly benefits amounts as we process each case, with the expectation that all beneficiary records will be updated by early November 2025,” Social Security Administration officials said.
Social Security officials have asked Americans to wait until April to ask about any retroactive payments. As of March 28, the agency had processed about 75% of the adjustments, or about 2.3 million, according to Fox Business.
April Social Security payment schedule
For those who want to monitor their payments closely in April or want to budget, the regular Social Security retirement benefit schedule for 2025 and 2026 can be found online. The SSA staggers retirement payments by birth date, so the payments will be:
- Wednesday, April 9: Birth dates between the 1st and 10th
- Wednesday, April 16: Birth dates between the 11th and 20th
- Wednesday, April 23: Birth dates between the 21st and 31st
SSI beneficiaries only received one payment in April but will receive two in May: on May 1 and May 30.
The SSA recommends that beneficiaries who don’t receive a payment on their due date contact their bank or financial institution first to see if there was a delay. If not, the SSA recommends calling 1-800-772-1213 or contacting a local Social Security office.
