House Bill No. 8-1-1 has been transmitted to the Senate and modifies certain aspect of the present law.
The bill will now reinstate the provision that the surviving spouse benefit is now entitled to receive the full amount.The new bill will modify RPPL 7-32 so that the persons who become eligible to receive benefits prior to the enactment of the law are not subject to the earning test.Under the current law, the old age benefit and the disability benefit are both reduced for persons that make over $1,800.Under the new bill, the Social Security Administration will provide beneficiaries whose benefits were decreased by the enactment of RPPL No. 7-32 with a reimbursement check for the difference between the total amounts of benefit or benefits each beneficiary was eligible to receive prior to the enactment.The bill said that the reimbursement checks shall be issued within six months of the effective date of the law when approved.The bill said that although the current law had many beneficial consequences, it also resulted in a benefit decrease for certain Palauan citizens who had been eligible for and had received certain Social Security benefits with no advance warning that the benefits will be altered.
