Protecting Our Widows and Widowers in Retirement Act

The "Protecting Our Widows and Widowers in Retirement Act," or POWR Act, seeks to enhance Social Security benefits for surviving spouses in two-income households. It amends Title II of the Social Security Act, specifically sections governing widow's and widower's insurance benefits. The core change introduces an alternative method for calculating benefits for fully insured widows and widowers. Under this new formula, eligible individuals could receive 75 percent of the sum of their own old-age or disability insurance benefit and their deceased spouse's primary insurance amount . This revised calculation is designed to provide a potentially higher benefit than current options, which typically involve choosing between their own benefit or a percentage of their spouse's. To prevent excessively high payouts, the bill establishes a cap on this new benefit amount, limiting it to the primary insurance amount of a hypothetical individual who consistently earned 1.33 times the national average wage index. Furthermore, the legislation includes a crucial "hold harmless" provision for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries, ensuring that any increase in Social Security benefits under this act does not adversely affect their SSI eligibility or payment amounts, with these amendments applying to benefits payable for months after December 2026.