Despite this progress, the Social Security Administration (SSA) continues to make great strides with the Fairness Act. They are already up to about 2.5 million payment loops completed. This legislation will help make up for harmful cuts in the program that have impacted more than 2.8 million people. Consequently, beneficiaries should be on the lookout for changes that could play a big role in their monthly Social Security deposits.
The Fairness Act brings major increases in monthly benefits—with adjustments especially for low-benefit people from $360 a month increase up to $1,190 a month increase. According to the SSA, these monthly increases for each beneficiary will be issued retroactively with any back payments due. An exemption would create an easy-to-navigate process that provides for a more seamless transition for all those impacted.
As an official from the Social Security Administration told the WaPo, “The weather’s warm, and we’re making pretty good progress…We hope to blow our projections for getting these payments processed out of the water. This new commitment further emphasizes the agency’s commitment to accelerating the flow of funds to beneficiaries.
People who would be impacted by the Fairness Act could see life-altering increases to their monthly Social Security payments. According to their individual circumstances, these changes may be as little as a few dollars or more than $1,000 per month. SSA explicitly stated that affected beneficiaries could experience months-long delays in receiving these adjustments. Some would have to wait more than a year for the changes to come into effect at the beginning of next year.
These new monthly annuity amounts will begin in July. So look for one time retroactive payments to be made by the end of that month. The SSA has noted that about 72% of state and local public sector workers currently pay Social Security taxes. These workers were not subjected to past cuts in their pension benefits.
There are about 300,000 people still waiting for recalculation of their payments mainly because of special situations that might merit further consideration. Specifically, some eligible beneficiaries who died recently are eligible for lump-sum retroactive payments.
David A. Weaver, former SSA executive, adjunct professor of statistics at the University of South Carolina. He makes it clear that we all need to learn about these critical changes. The Congressional Budget Office had just recently estimated these possible changes in monthly payments, now finally starting to come true.