- The Social Security Administration is under new leadership after former Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano has been sworn in as commissioner.
- The change at the helm of the federal agency comes after the Trump administration crossed the first 100 days of its term, a period that has included changes to both benefits and services.
- Here are some key changes that Social Security’s approximately 73 million beneficiaries need to watch.
The Social Security Administration is under new leadership, after financial services executive Frank Bisignano was sworn in as commissioner this week.
Bisignano’s confirmation follows a host of changes at the federal agency during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, many of them through the Department of Government Efficiency.
For the approximate 73 million beneficiaries who rely on monthly Social Security checks, those changes may affect how they receive services from the agency.
From benefit increases for certain pensioners to changing policies on benefit withholdings and customer service, here are some of the biggest shifts of which beneficiaries should take note.
Certain pensioners see benefit increases
A new law that went into effect in January will provide almost 3 million individuals with increased Social Security benefits.
The Social Security Fairness Act provides higher monthly Social Security checks for individuals who also receive pensions from work that did not include payment of Social Security payroll taxes. It will also provide lump sum retroactive payments starting from January 2024.
Monthly benefit increases may range from “very little” to “over $1,000 more each month,” according to the Social Security Administration, which began those adjustments in February.
The change affects certain workers such as teachers, firefighters and police officers; federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System; and people who work under foreign social security programs, according to the agency. Those workers had previously seen their benefits reduced or eliminated due to the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, which have been nixed with the new law.
In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, SSA has paid more than $14.8 billion in retroactive payments to more than 2.2 million individuals, according to the agency.
The agency has expedited the processing of the benefit changes under President Donald Trump. However, it may take a year or more to issue payments for some cases that cannot be processed through automation, according to the agency.
New default withholding rate for repaying benefits
Social Security beneficiaries are sometimes overpaid benefits due to errors.
When that happens, the Social Security Administration requires the extra money to be repaid to the agency.
Because it can take months or years to catch on to those mistakes, beneficiaries can be on the hook to repay big sums. That money may be withheld from benefit checks until the overpayment has been repaid.
The Social Security Administration has made various adjustments to the default withholding rate from benefits.
In response to complaints that a 100% default withholding rate caused financial hardship for affected beneficiaries, the agency under President Joe Biden changed that default withholding rate to 10% of a beneficiary’s monthly benefit or $10, whichever was greater.
Under Trump, SSA has had a tougher stance on overpayments. In March, the agency announced it planned to reinstate the default withholding rate to 100% of an individual’s monthly benefit. The change was estimated to generate about $7 billion in overpayment recoveries in the next decade.
However, the agency recently issued an emergency message notifying its employees that new overpayment notices sent on or after April 25 will have a 50% default withholding rate. That applies to retirement, survivors and disability insurance benefits. The withholding rate for Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, benefits is still 10%.
Some experts worry a 50% default withholding rate is still too high.
“Losing 50% [of benefits] for a lot of people could put them into immediate economic hardship,” Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans.
