Larry,
I retired from a State job in Nov.. 2018, shortly before my 70th Birthday. Until I retired, I was receiving all of my deceased husband's SS benefits as a widow. (He diied of cancer in Jan. 2015.)
As soon as I retired, my income fell drastically: my MA State pension is at 50% because I "only" worked for 20.5 years (from ages 50---70$. His SS benefit for me was cut from $2450. peri month to about $500..
I understand this is due to the GPO but think it is grossly unfair, because it cut so heavily into my finances. I receive MA Health and $373.50 per month. Can anything be done?

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. If the pension you now receive from the state is based on your earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes, then your widow's rate would almost certainly need to be lowered due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision. The offset to your widow's benefit would start effective with the month that your state pension started.

You don't mention how much your state pension is, though, so I can't tell you whether or not the amount of reduction that's been applied to your widow's rate is correct. Assuming that GPO applies in your case, the reduction to your widow's rate should amount to 2/3rds of the gross amount of your state pension.

You could file an appeal request with Social Security, but that won't change anything if the GPO has properly been applied and if the offset amount is correct. For more information on the GPO provision and it's exceptions, refer to the following section of Social Security's handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.18/handbook-1836.html.

Best, Jerry