Over 3 million Social Security Fairness Act beneficiaries may wait more than a year for higher payments: Agency

More than 3.2 million people will see increased Social Security benefits, under a new law.

However, individuals who are affected may have to wait more than a year before they see the extra money that’s due to them from the Social Security Fairness Act, the Social Security Administration said in an update on its website.

“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,” the agency states.

The Social Security Fairness Act eliminates two provisions — known as the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset — that previously reduced Social Security benefits for certain beneficiaries who also had pension income provided from employment where they did not contribute Social Security payroll taxes.

More from Personal Finance:
New Social Security increases may trigger higher tax bills, Medicare premiums
Why retirees may feel the 2025 Social Security COLA isn’t enough
New Social Security benefit legislation worsens program’s funding woes

Those provisions reduced benefits for certain workers including state teachers, firefighters and police officers; federal employees who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and individuals who worked under a foreign social security system.

The law affects benefits paid after December 2023. Consequently, affected beneficiaries will receive increases to their monthly benefit checks, as well as retroactive lump sum payments for benefits payable for January 2024 and after.

The benefit increases “may vary greatly,” depending on an individual’s type of Social Security benefits and the amount of pension income they receive, according to the Social Security Administration.

“Some people’s benefits will increase very little while others may be eligible for over $1,000 more each month,” the agency states.

The Social Security Administration said it cannot yet provide an estimated timeline for when the benefit adjustments will happen.

In the meantime, the agency is advising beneficiaries to update their mailing address and bank direct deposit information, if necessary. In addition, noncovered pension recipients may now want to apply for benefits, if they are newly eligible following the enacted changes.