The Social Security Administration (SSA) updated payment procedures for April 2025, derived from the Social Security Fairness Act, enacted in January 2025, being one of the last actions of the Joe Biden government before handing over command to Donald Trump.
This regulation eliminates two provisions known as “WEP” and “GPO,” which reduced benefits to more than 3.2 million Social Security beneficiaries, mainly public employees such as teachers, firefighters and federal agents under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).
A law that corrected unfairness to Social Security beneficiaries
The law was designed to correct inequalities in benefits for those who receive pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security. Previously, the WEP adjusted the amounts for those who had external pensions, while the GPO affected spouses or survivors. The elimination of both provisions, effective January 2024, excludes 72% of state and local employees whose positions are already covered by the system.
As of February 25, 2025, the SSA began issuing retroactive payments to beneficiaries whose amounts were reduced due to provisions of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These reductions were applied between January 2024 and March 2025.
Average payments of $6,700: Until when will they be sent?
As of March 4, more than $7.5 billion has been distributed to approximately 1,127,723 individuals, with an average of $6,710 per beneficiary. Most received these funds via direct deposit in March.
For more complex cases that require manual processing, the SSA estimates that payments will be completed during the month of April, but some could take until November 2025, when all the injustices committed by the previous law are expected to be corrected.
SSA prioritized simple cases through automation, expediting 85% of adjustments. For complex situations, manual review is required, which extends timelines. All affected parties will receive postal notifications explaining the changes. The entity recommends checking the payment status after April, once the gradual processing ends.
Upcoming Social Security payment dates and maximum amounts
During the month of April, the SSA calendar began with its first payment day, which was on April 1, for those who are holders of Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Then, April 3 is for those who live outside the US, receive SSI and Social Security, have state-paid Medicare, or applied for retirement before May 1997.
Then, those recipients of Social Security and disability benefits (SSDI) who claimed their payments after May 1997 are separated into three groups:
- April 9: For those born between the 1st and 10th of any month.
- April 16: For those born between the 11th and 20th of any month.
- April 23: For those born between the 21st and 31st of any month.
However, the maximum amounts that beneficiaries can access depend on the age at which they have requested their retirement (among other factors):
- At age 62: $2,831 per month.
- At age 67 (full retirement age): $4,018 per month.
- At age 70: $5,108 per month.
These amounts may vary depending on income and years contributed, so each case is unique and specific. To this we can add, of course, the impacts of the changes in the law that we talked about at the beginning of this article.
