The Social Security Fairness Act has bipartisan support, but time is running out for Senate vote

[wishstar]

16. No, a federal retiree cannot get SS on spouse's record if the Fed's own pension is higher

For instance, I am a Federal employee who worked long enough under old Civil Service to draw a Federal pension for which I paid in massive contributions. But before and after my Federal service, I also worked over 10 years paying into Social Security at a high enough pay amount to be eligible for my own Social Security as well. However I am penalized and cannot get as much Social Security as anyone else who worked and paid into SS because of the windfall offset provision. So if this bill passes, my SS will go up from a measly $45 or so to over $200 per month which would at least cover my Medicare premiums.

But I have never been able to draw a spouse's SS benefit because I have my own Federal pension that is higher and this bill will not change that and I will still never get a spouse's SS benefit from my spouse's work. However my sister-in-law who was a stay at home spouse and never worked enough to get her own SS gets more in spouse's SS from my brother's work than I get in my Federal pension! Because he was high earner and I had a much more modest salary as a Federal employee.