Overview
- In a Feb. 5 letter, Sens. Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn and John Fetterman urged the Social Security Administration to apply a one-year retroactive period starting January 2024 to all applicants, regardless of when they filed.
- The SSA has limited some new applicants to six months of retroactive benefits, citing unchanged wording in the Social Security Act, and applied a full year only to people already receiving benefits or who filed by January 2024.
- The Social Security Fairness Act, signed Jan. 5, 2025, repealed WEP and GPO, boosting monthly payments and authorizing retroactive lump sums for an estimated 2.8 million public workers and surviving spouses.
- Advocacy groups contend the law is unambiguous about a 12-month lookback, while financial experts warn a broader payout could strain SSA finances and create tax timing issues for recipients.
- The agency has not announced any policy change in response to the senators’ request and declined to comment to CNBC.