Retirement Services
Outreach
2013
Outreach Overview
• Agenda
• Retirement Services Strategy
• Review of Customer Services
• Overview of Retirement Services Online
• Explanation of Outreach Efforts
• Review of five important things to
remember
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Retirement Services Strategy
• Strategic Plan can be found at:
http://www.opm.gov/about-us/budgetperformance/strategic-plans/retirementstrategic-plan.pdf
Strategy to eliminate the backlogs consists
of 4 Pillars
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People
Productivity and Process Improvement
Partnering with Agencies
Partial, Progressive Information
Technology (IT) Improvements
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People
• Hired Additional LAS to adjudicate
cases
• Brought Back Experienced, Retired LAS
to help with the backlog
• Added additional staff to “complete”
cases before they go to a LAS
• Pooled Additional Resources from other
areas of OPM
4
Productivity and Process Improvement
• Successfully completed the Lean / SixSigma White Belt Training
• Completed Adjudication Process Time
Observation Simulation
• FERS Processing – 9.0 cases per day
processed per LAS
• CSRS Processing – 8.3 cases per day
processed per LAS
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Productivity and Process Improvement
• Support Operations
• Pre-Assembly Cell # 1
• Sub-Assembly Cell # 2
• Final Assembly Cell # 3
• Interim Pay Cell # 4
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Productivity and Process Improvement
• Case Development Cell # 5
• The single most important Cell to
Future State operations
• Case Development process
improvements define steady state
process flow for improved customer
service and business excellence
• Case Adjudication Cell # 6
• Case Review Cell # 7
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Partnering with Agencies
• Case Development Team: If the
development team keeps a steady flow of
fully developed cases needing no
additional upfront information, the
adjudicator could devote more of their day
to coding the calculation and processing
post development actions, which will
greatly improve timeliness and reduce
backlogs
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Partnering with Agencies
• Agency Audits/Outreach: Although RS is
currently focused on reducing claims and
the backlog we have also worked to
increase the frequency of agency audits.
• Agency Access to Electronic Images /
Records-This will allow agencies to have
access to imaged records within RS,
enabling them to provide a more complete
estimate and timelier service to the
perspective annuitant.
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Partnering with Agencies
• CHCO Council RS Working Group-This
allows represented agencies and RS to
work together to improve the speed and
accuracy of Retirement Processing by:
1.Identify ways to decrease the time &
cost to review & process retirement
claims & to streamline other retirement
procedures resulting in the elimination
of the current retirement backlog;
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Partnering with Agencies
2.Discuss ways to leverage resources;
identify & share/replicate best practices;
3.Increase the accuracy rate of audit
results from application received by
agencies & educating the workforce on
ways to reduce documentation errors
that negatively impact the retirement
process.
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Partial, Progressive Information
Technology (IT) Improvements
• Additional automation is vital to our
success. Since previous efforts to
automate the entire RS process have
failed, automation of our process piece-bypiece will be the path to success of the
initiative.
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Retirement Services Goal
• Increase monthly claims adjudication
capacity by 2000 claims per month
• Eliminate Claims Backlog within
18 Months
• Adjudicate 90 percent of all new claims
within 60 days of receipt from the
agencies
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Retirement Services Statistics
• Current Stats can be found at
http://www.opm.gov/StrategicPlan/pdf/Reti
rementProcessingStatus.pdf
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Key Improvements
• Improve automated data feeds to reduce
the percentage of cases requiring manual
interim pay and to include data related to
the annuity supplement benefit on FERS
retirements
• Promote standardization among all HR
and payroll providers
• Create task teams within HR and Payroll
offices to expedite development issues
relating to pending retirement claims
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Key Improvements
• Improve customer service by creating a
first call resolution area and reduce the
number of calls being misdirected to
Operations (Tier 2 RIO)
• Process all clerical and development work
on pending claims prior to being assigned
to an adjudicator, keeping a steady supply
of “complete cases” going to the
adjudicators
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Key Improvements
• Reduce the percentage of cases needing
a Full or Cursory review to increase output
and reallocate those resources to process
pending retirement claims
• Identify staffing outside Claims 1 & 2 that
can adjudicate on regular time and
overtime.
• Contact retirees that have retired in the
last year to be re-employed and have an
immediate impact without training ramp up
time
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Key Improvements
• Implement Rapid Improvement Events
(REI’s) from lean 6 sigma continuous
improvement initiative
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Retirement Services Workloads
Workloads
Retirement Claims
95,000
Survivor Claims
80,000
Refund and Deposit Claims
24,000
Phone Calls (RIOs)
1,800,000
Email
287,000
Written Correspondence
281,000
Address Change Requests
276,000
Post Retirement Change
Requests
135,000
Retirement File Services
900,000
$6 Billion paid out a month in retirements and survivor annuities
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Customer Services
• Customer services
• Phone calls (RIOs)
1,800,000
• Email
287,000
• Written correspondence 281,000
• Address Changes
276,000
• Walk-in service
3,000
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Customer Services
• Retirement Information Office (Call
Center)
• Customer Walk-in Area located in the
Theodore Roosevelt Building in
Washington, DC
• Correspondence Office
• Written letters
• Emails
• Faxes
• Refund/Deposit Office
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Customer Services
• Staff- 155 (Hiring an additional 27)
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Retirement Information Office - 83
Correspondence - 45
Refund/Deposit – 17
Management - 10
• Contractor Staff (overflow)
• 36 employees
• Hours of Operation are 7:30am until
8:00pm Eastern Time
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Customer Services
• Our strategy
• Provide multiple channels
•Telephone
•Email
•Fax
•Website
• One contact resolution
• Proactive informative service
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Customer Services
• Improvement actions
• Hired and trained additional staff
• Purchased and implemented new
quality assurance technology
• Updated the call messaging
system to provide a longest waiting
call message
• Provided informational messages
through the phone system
• Evaluated performance goals
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Retirement Services Online
Visit https://www.servicesonline.opm.gov
• Get your personalized retirement
information and make changes online
• All you need is a computer, your Claim
number, and Password
• To request a Password, please call us at
1-888-767-6738, email us at
retire@opm.gov or use Retirement
Services Online to make your request
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Retirement Services Online
Visit https://www.servicesonline.opm.gov
• What can you do?
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View annuity statement
Change mailing address
Sign up for direct deposit of your payment
Update email address
Change Federal and State Income Tax
withholding
View/Print/Request a duplicate Form 1099-R
for the current tax year and two previous years
Change Password
Request a new password
Establish an allotment to an organization
Set up a checking or savings allotment
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Services Online Home Page
www.servicesonline.opm.gov
Services Online Customer Log In
Claim Number
A12345670
PIN/Password
13208995
Payment Schedule
02/01/2011
Forgot Claim Number or
Password
Services Online Main Menu
Annuity Statement
Services Online
Three ways to Access Services Online
• Main OPM web site: www.opm.gov
• Main Retirement Information and
Services web site --- Quick Links
section: www.opm.gov/retire
• Direct web address:
www.servicesonline.opm.gov
Retirement Services Outreach
• Attend NARFE Conferences/Chapter
Meetings
• Focus groups with retirees
• Pamphlets available
• RI 83-21 - Take control of your retirement
• RI 38-126 – Life Events and Your
Retirement and Insurance Benefits (For
Annuitants)
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Going Green
• In an effort to “go-green” and reduce
paper consumption, OPM started two
initiatives
• In 2009, we began collecting annuitants’ email
addresses.
• In 2010, you received an open season
notification which included a web site and
telephone number to request health plan
brochures, make enrollment changes, perform
other open season transactions and obtain
other health benefits information.
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Going Green
• United States Department of the
Treasury implemented “Go Direct”
effective March 1, 2013
• You can find more information about this
initiative at:
• http://www.godirect.org/
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Going Green
• Everyone getting the following federal
benefits by paper check were switched to
electronic payments – direct deposit to a
bank or credit union account or to the
Direct Express® Debit MasterCard® card:
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Social Security
Supplemental Security Income
Veterans Affairs
Railroad Retirement Board
Office of Personnel Management
Department of Labor (Black Lung)
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Five Important Things to Remember
• Keep your mailing address and
e-mail address updated with OPM
• Keep your designations of
beneficiary updated
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Retirement Operations Center
Boyers, PA
• Houses the files of
our retirees and
survivors
• Piled one on top
the other, our
21,000+ filing
cabinets, would be
more than four
times the height of
Mount Everest
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Five Important Things to Remember
• Report the death of your spouse to
OPM
• Report a marriage after retirement to
OPM
• Make sure your family knows who to
contact in the event of your death
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Contact Us
•Web:
•www.opm.gov/retire
•www.servicesonline.gov
•Email: retire@opm.gov
•Telephone 1-888-767-6738
•TTY 1-800-878-5707
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Contact Information
Sharon K. Appel
Manager, Benefits Officers Liaison and Development
Retirement Services
724-794-2005 ext 3127
Sharon.Appel@opm.gov
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