Twelve House Republicans have asked OPM about the time it takes for federal retirees to start collecting their full benefits, claiming that their constituents have raised concerns about situations where the wait was as long as 13 months.
The letter written by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., concentrates on the opinions of CBP officers, but the fundamental problem affects retirements from all government departments and has existed for a while. According to a recent OPM report, the average processing time after obtaining the data from the employing agency is 89 days, which is greater than the objective of 60 days and the average processing time for cases lasting longer than 60 days is 121 days.
Retirees receive a partial benefit while their applications are being processed by OPM, often averaging around 80% of the anticipated final benefit amount, with a catch-up payment following the adjudication’s conclusion. The interim payout, however, is often just around half of the benefit, and in certain situations, it is only a tenth, according to the letter.
Our offices have tried to help constituents facing these difficulties, but OPM has been silent. For example, the OPM congressional portal does not provide congressional staff with any information regarding the progress of submitted cases. In addition, the letter stated that attempts to contact OPM congressional liaisons via phone and email were unsuccessful.
The letter requested that processing timelines be detailed, including any variations by agency and degree of supervision, and that information regarding the amount of on-site work performed by OPM retirement processing staff be provided.
Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 6122163911
Bio:
Mickey Elfenbein specializes in working with Federal Employees relative to their retirement benefit plans, FEGLI, TSP, Social Security and Medicare, issues and solutions. Mr. Elfenbein’s mission is to help federal employees to understand their benefits, and to maximize their financial retirements while minimizing risk. Many of the federal benefit programs in place are complicated to understand and go through numerous revisions. It is Mr. Elfenbein’s job to be an expert on the various programs and to stay on top of changes.
Mickey enjoys in providing an individualized and complimentary retirement analysis for federal employees.
He has over 30 years of senior level experience in a variety of public and private enterprises, understands the needs of federal employees, and has expertise built on many years of high-level experience.
