OPM says online retirement application has halved processing time but backlog remains

Members pressed OPM about delays in retirement processing, improper payments and efforts to reduce errors and backlog.

Cooper told the subcommittee OPM launched an online retirement application this year and that roughly 130,000 annuitants have used it. He said processing times for those digital claims have fallen from more than 90 days to about 30–40 days and that OPM’s goal is to reduce electronic processing to about 15 days by the end of the fiscal year. Cooper described doubled productivity for retirement processing teams working with the new system.

Interim pay and backlog Cooper said OPM now provides interim pay to all retirees within seven days of receiving an application using an 80% calculation — a change from the prior practice in which roughly 40% of applicants received interim pay. Members asked about a reported increase in improper payments (cited in the hearing as rising to about $435 million in FY25); Cooper attributed many improper payments to legacy manual processes in retirement services and health/insurance claims and said OPM is investing in technology, including AI tools, to detect fraud and reduce erroneous long-running payments.

Dependencies and agency coordination Cooper told members that a substantial source of delay remains agency HR offices and payroll providers that must supply information to OPM; he said the new electronic systems provide more visibility into where delays originate and allow OPM to target agency support where it’s most needed.

Next steps OPM said it will share datasets with committee staff showing agency-level contributions to backlog and will continue rolling out modernization and call-center improvements intended to reduce wait times and improper payments.