Over a year ago, I wrote about OPM Director Linda Springer’s push to get retirement cases processed within 90 days and to eliminate the use of interim payments, which result in newly retired employees receiving less than the full amount of their annuities until a final adjudication of their cases has taken place. Long-time readers will recall that I withheld my applause, instead adopting a wait and see approach.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that things are improving, so I’ve allowed my palms to briefly touch. However, a recent notice in the Federal Register reveals that OPM is embarking on a major change in the way it does business, which could achieve more than the two goals mentioned above.
The project is called Retirement Systems Modernization (RSM). Its purpose is to “improve the quality and timeliness of services to employees and annuitants covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), as well as the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), the Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) and Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits (RFEHB) Programs.”
They propose to do that by “modernizing [their] business processes and the technology the supports them” by creating Web-based tools and automating claims processing. In other words, they are going to not only develop systems that will provide employees and retirees access to on-line pre- and post-retirement counseling but move away from today’s sluggish paper-based claims processing system.
Beginning in February 2008, OPM will begin moving the insurance records of current employees and retirees into the new system. You’ll be able to track their progress by going to http://www.opm.gov/rsm/index.asp.
Also published for comment is a new part 850 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, which will give OPM the authority to allow agencies to submit information and transactions electronically in lieu of paper documents and written signatures. In the same way, it will allow OPM to accept and process electronically-submitted employee and annuitant applications and elections.
While it will take time for the great paper mill to be replaced by an electronic highway, OPM is committed to making it a reality as soon as possible. Stay tuned.