An FO or a PC receives reports of new entitlement to a pension or an increase to a
pension already on a spouse’s record. The Regular Transcript Attainment and Selection
Pass (RETAP) generates alerts in the PC to follow up for future pension entitlement
or for pension increases.
If the report is for a new entitlement to a pension, obtain a completed SSA-3885 (Government Pension Questionnaire).
For pensions based on a combination of government and private employment, request
verification of the pension amount based on only the government employment from the
employer or pension-paying agency (for more information, see GN 02608.400).
For processing a report of pension entitlement or pension increase from the Office
of Personnel Management (OPM), see GN 02608.301.
NOTE: If the spouse is entitled to retirement (RIB) or disability (DIB) benefits on their
own Social Security number, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) may be applicable
to the computation of the primary insurance amount (PIA) on their RIB or DIB record.
For more information about WEP, see RS 00605.360.
1. Processing a beneficiary’s report of pension entitlement or a RETAP alert for future
pension entitlement
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a.
If an exemption to the GPO applies:
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•
Enter information about the exemption that applies in the appropriate GPO data input
screens.
A periodic pension can cause either partial or total GPO; for information about the
types of GPO, see GN 02608.100B.
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b.
If total GPO applies:
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•
Obtain and verify evidence for the beginning month of the periodic pension.
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•
Process a Post Entitlement Online System (POS) action by selecting option 27=GOVT
PENSION OFFSET on the POS Selection List (PESL) screen and complete the GPO screens.
For information on completion of the GPO screens, see MS COMMON 003.001.
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c.
If partial GPO applies:
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•
The claimant must provide evidence from the employer or pension-paying agency (e.g.,
an award letter) that shows the gross pension amount, including pension amount changes
as necessary, and the effective date of the pension. For additional types of evidence,
see GN 02608.200B.
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•
Process a POS action by selecting option 27=GOVT PENSION OFFSET on the PESL screen
and complete the GPO screen.
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•
Enter the future month and year of the expected increase in the NEXT EXPECTED PENSION
INCREASE DATE field on the Government Pension Periodic Payments (GPP1) screen if the
claimant expects an increase in the current pension amount or for any known State
or local pension increases.
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•
Do not enter a Stop Date for the current pension amount for an expected pension increase in the future. This
may stop the GPO.
The system calculates the Social Security benefit amount based on the non-covered
periodic pension information in the GPO screens.
2. Processing a report of pension increase
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a.
Process a POS action by completing the following steps:
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•
Select option 27=GOVT PENSION OFFSET in POS on the PESL screen and complete the GPO
screens. For information on completion of the GPO screens, see MS COMMON 003.001 et
seq.
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•
Enter the future month and year of the expected increase in the NEXT EXPECTED PENSION
INCREASE DATE field on the GPP1 screen if the claimant expects an increase in the
current pension amount or for any known State or local pension increases.
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•
Do
not enter a Stop Date for the current pension amount for an expected pension increase in the future. This
may stop the GPO.
The system calculates the Social Security benefit amount based on the non-covered
periodic pension information in the GPO screens.
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b.
Secure evidence of the pension increase if:
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•
The report is from a source other than the employer or pension-paying agency; and
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A change in the pension will result in an increase to the benefit amount payable (e.g.,
a total offset changes to partial offset); and either
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The pension information of record was not previously verified; or
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The pension information of record is more than two years old.
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c.
Obtain acceptable evidence of pension increase as stated in GN 02608.200B; additionally:
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•
Accept a report from the employer or pension paying agency at face value; or
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•
Accept the spouse's statement as evidence when we previously verified the pension
amount on record, even if the verification is currently more than two years old, if
it will not result in an increase to the spouse’s benefit amount payable.
If there is reason to believe that an unreported increase in the pension occurred
(e.g., we know that the particular pension plan pays increases annually), verify that
the increase occurred and the amount of the increase before adjusting benefits.
Electronically store the SSA-3885 and evidence required through the Non-Disability
Repository for Evidentiary Documents (NDRed) system in the Evidence Portal. For information
about storing documents through NDRed, see GN 00301.322.
3. PC processing RETAP alerts for expected pension increase
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a.
When a RETAP alert generates for an expected pension increase, contact the beneficiary
via direct contact (DIRCON) to get the effective date and the new periodic pension
amount. For information on DIRCON, see GN 01070.305.
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b.
Contact the pension-paying agency if unable to contact the beneficiary.
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c.
Provide an advance notice to the beneficiary before reducing benefits if the pension-paying
agency furnishes the information. For information about advance notices, see GN 03001.015.
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d.
Complete the GPP1 screen with the new pension amount and enter the month and year
of any expected pension increase in the NEXT EXPECTED PENSION INCREASE DATE field.
For information on completion of the GPO screens, see MS COMMON 003.001 et seq.
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e.
Do
not enter a Stop Date for the current pension amount if GPO continues to apply.
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f.
If the beneficiary fails to respond to the request for status of the pension increase,
follow the steps for suspension of benefits in GN 02608.300B.3. in this section.