Despite 10% Reduction, Retirement Claims Backlog Still at Almost 15k

The number of new claims received by the Office of Personnel Management in September was the lowest number in months which allowed the outstanding backlog to be reduced by 10%, however, OPM still missed its own estimate for the month.

The number of new claims received by the Office of Personnel Management was the lowest its been in a month since April which allowed the agency to reduce the outstanding backlog of claims by 10%. That wasn’t enough, however, to get the backlog down below the 10,000 mark.

The total backlog went from 16,350 to 14,706. 6,300 new claims were received in September, and OPM was able to process 7,944 which accounted for the reduction in the backlog.

OPM had estimated that the total backlog would be at 11,042 at the end of September, so it missed that mark by 33%. The total backlog is also higher than it was a year ago, most likely due to the large number of new claims that were received in 2015, particularly in January, February and July.

The latest data are included below.

Month Projected Claims Received Projected Claims Processed Projected Inventory Claims Received Claims Processed Inventory % Processed in 60 days or less (YTD)
Oct-13 8,400 11,500 19,142 7,484 11,027 14,176
Nov-13 8,400 11,500 16,042 5,672 5,714 14,134
Dec-13 8,400 11,500 12,942 4,952 6,449 12,637
Jan-14 19,000 8,700 23,242 17,383 8,724 21,296
Feb-14 9,800 9,400 23,642 12,025 9,767 23,554
Mar-14 6,400 10,400 19,642 6,831 11,812 18,573
Apr-14 6,500 9,300 16,842 8,047 10,002 16,618
May-14 6,800 9,000 14,642 8,431 10,498 14,551 76.6%
Jun-14 8,000 8,100 14,542 6,627 8,787 12,391 77.3%
Jul-14 8,000 8,100 14,442 9,101 7,872 13,620 77.9%
Aug-14 7,400 8,000 13,842 6,795 7,318 13,097 78.5%
Sep-14 7,300 8,000 13,142 6,350 6,680 12,767 78.8%
Oct-14 7,800 8,500 12,442 10,155 8,785 14,137 83.2%
Nov-14 7,600 7,800 12,242 5,746 5,844 14,039 83.4%
Dec-14 5,600 6,500 11,342 4,077 6,447 11,669 83.7%
Jan-15 19,000 8,700 21,642 18,629 7,662 22,636 80.2%
Feb-15 9,700 9,800 21,542 9,219 7,841 24,014 80.6%
Mar-15 6,400 11,000 16,942 5,478 8,898 20,594 81.6%
Apr-15 6,700 9,600 14,042 6,292 8,660 18,226 72.6%
May-15 7,100 9,100 12,042 7,845 10,697 15,374 68.0%
Jun-15 7,500 8,000 11,542 6,920 7,783 14,511 68.7%
Jul-15 8,000 8,100 11,442 9,862 7,918 16,455 69.0%
Aug-15 7,400 7,600 11,242 7,341 7,446 16,350 69.6%
Sep-15 7,300 7,500 11,042 6,300 7,944 14,706 70.1%

 

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.