Benefit increases suggested by the Social Security Fairness Act may be difficult to Execute

More than 3.2 million people earned a legislative triumph thanks to a new law that would boost the Social Security payments for which they are eligible. However, many of those folks are now waiting for the additional benefit money. The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law by then-President Joe Biden on January 5. The bill repeals specific provisions, including the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which formerly cut Social Security payments for persons receiving pensions from non-covered work. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the modifications will increase monthly fees ranging from $360 to $1,190, depending on individual circumstances. Furthermore, the bill offers lump-sum payments for benefit increases that begin in January 2024 and continue thereafter. 

SSA will suffer without Greater Money, according to Experts:

On February 5, a bipartisan group of Senators wrote to Acting Social Security Commissioner Michelle King, requesting her to speed up the implementation of benefit changes impacting select teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public officials. “We call for the swift passage of this legislation to provide prompt relief to the millions of Americans impacted by WEP and GPO,” according to the senators.

However, other analysts believe the organization requires additional financial resources. “Congress must provide funding to cover the implementation costs, or SSA will struggle to work these cases,” said David A. Weaver, a former Social Security Administration administrator who now teaches statistics at the University of South Carolina. The Social Security Fairness Act was passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. However, retirement policy specialists have harshly condemned the new scheme. One sticking point is the cost, which the CBO estimates will be $200 billion over ten years, with no offsets to assist cover the rise.

According to calculations, this expenditure will bring the Social Security trust fund’s depletion date closer to six months. He stated the agency will require around $200 million to execute the Social Security Fairness Act’s reforms. The last time a comparable amendment occurred was with the Senior Citizens Freedom to Work Act of 2000. Social Security claimants who had attained full retirement age were no longer subject to benefit reductions based on earned income. According to Weaver, that law affected around 1 million people and cost around $65 million to execute in today’s money. He stated that the new Social Security Fairness Act will affect almost three times as many people.

The Social Security Administration’s personnel is presently at a 50-year low, according to Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Before President Donald Trump assumed office, it was claimed that more financing would assist the Social Security Administration in meeting the needs of the WEP and GPO repeal. If Congress’s resources to the agency are decreased, Adcock believes implementing the new law would take more than a year.

Why would a new legislation be challenging to implement?

According to Weaver, the Social Security Administration may confront specific challenges as it implements the law’s new benefit modifications, which may cause delays. When the Social Security Fairness Act was initially presented in 2023, the law said the changes would take effect beginning with payments payable in January 2024.

As lawmakers hurried the measure through in late December, the effective date remained unchanged. According to Weaver, calculating the retroactive payments will add to the Social Security Administration’s workload. There are further issues that might arise due to the effective date. For example, every year, 4% of Social Security claimants die. Weaver believes the Social Security Administration may be able to automate 95% of Windfall Elimination Provision instances. However, some uncommon instances may arise, such as when a recipient is also subject to the earnings test. Weaver stated that this will need manual input from Social Security staff, resulting in a longer processing timeline.