Could this be true? 

I’ve been hearing from recently retired federal employees who are trying to sort out their benefits as the dust begins to settle on their new “annuitant” status. Here are some recent rumors that have been floating around the internet that suggest that there is confusion surrounding the sudden retirement that occurred for many federal workers who jumped on board the Deferred Resignation Program bandwagon. Many of these employees had little time to prepare, and most did not receive adequate retirement counseling or education. Here are some of the rumors that I’ve seen in recent weeks:   

Retirement Processing  

Rumor: The Office of Personnel Management has not been communicating the status of the progress of the retirement claims that have not been finalized yet.   

Solution: It is true that sometimes there will be a deposit into your bank account with little, if any explanation before or on the day of the deposit. This can be the deposit of your lump sum annual leave payment (this payment is generated by your former agency’s payroll provider) or your first “interim” retirement payment from OPM.  Eventually, you may receive your final leave and earnings statement or be granted access to OPM’s Services Online system that will help you understand the source and accounting of these “stealth” deposits.   

In the meantime, it helps if you know what to expect. For that, OPM has published a “Quick Guide to Retirement Processing” that begins with setting your retirement all the way to your retirement being finalized with the deposit of your first regular retirement payment.   

Some other things to remember including: 

• OPM may send you information by U.S. Mail, and you may also receive an email or even in some cases, a phone call. Respond quickly to any requests for additional information. Keep copies of anything you send to OPM and any communications you have by email or phone. Be sure to keep your address and other personal information current on OPM’s Services Online system. To learn more about OPM Services Online, visit “My Annuity and Benefits”  

• If you haven’t received your lump sum payment for unused annual leave or your final SF 50, Notification of Personnel Action stating the effective date of your retirement, your Civil Service Active number from OPM, or your last paycheck hasn’t been paid, then there is a good chance that OPM hasn’t received your retirement for processing yet. You may need to contact your former agency to get an update on the HR and Payroll processing status.   

Communicating with OPM 

Rumor: When calling OPM Retirement Services, they will not answer the phone and will disconnect the call without even allowing you to stay on hold.   

Solution: OPM has the following listed for contacting Retirement Services by phone: Call us if you can't find an answer to your question on OPM.gov or if you can't sign in to OPM Retirement Services Online to manage your annuity account. You may also need to call us for special or complex cases, or because we directed you to. 

Phone: 1-888-767-6738 
TTY: 711 

Hours: Monday thru Friday, 7:40 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST 
Closed on federal holidays 

Our busiest time is between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. EST. 

The OPM Office of the Inspector General has a planned audit for 2026 of OPM Retirement Services.     

It is true that sometimes when the phone lines are jammed, the call will disconnect without allowing the caller to remain on hold. The suggestion is to call back in 30 minutes to see if the lines have opened and allow the caller to remain on hold. Put your speaker on and do something else while you wait; it may be a while!  The best suggestion is to call as close to 7:40 am EST as possible. No guarantee, but you may be able to be on hold for less than 45 minutes, and you might not be disconnected. 

Customer service at OPM has been cited for improvement by the OPM Office of the Inspector General as reported in The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Top Management Challenges for Fiscal Year 2026 recent report.   It was reported that while Retirement Services works to decrease the processing time of retirement applications and enhance the customer service experience for annuitants, the OIG is concerned that a reduced workforce—more than 100 Retirement Services staff lost due to the deferred resignation program, regular retirements and hiring action cancellations—could affect Retirement Services’ progress and its ability to continue to respond to the roughly 6,000 calls received daily. Specifically, the report stated: 

Customer service remains an issue for OPM’s retirement operations. Reporting in the Washington Post anecdotally described customer service issues similar to those the OIG has identified as a top challenge for OPM in previous reports. In previous top management challenge reports, we identified lack of resources as a contributing factor to this issue. Annuitants, and especially survivor annuitants, often call the OIG Hotline when they are frustrated with their inability to obtain help with their retirement issues due to long hold times in Retirement Services.  

Since January 2025, the OIG has received more than 250 customer service-related hotline complaints that we referred to Retirement Services. About 20 percent of the hotline complaints that the OIG receives regarding retirement customer service are for a lack of response from the OPM program office. As of August 26, 2025, we have approximately 30 complaints that have, to our knowledge, not received an OPM response more than 100 days after we provided the information to the Retirement Services program office.  

With the surge of retirees from the Deferred Resignation Program, as well as the increased use of Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments and the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority contributing to the overall shrinking of the federal workforce by approximately 300,000 employees (or 12.5 percent), OPM must anticipate and prepare for increases in customer service contacts as it seeks to continue to serve annuitants. 

FEHB Coverage Requirements 

Rumor: OPM did not process Open Season changes for recent retirees who retired during or right before the 2025 Open Season.  

Solution: Hopefully, this problem has been solved by now. If not, immediately contact OPM to let them know the change that you were trying to make during the Open Season to be sure your agency notified OPM properly. There was a delay in processing some Health Benefit changes for annuitants.  According to the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (www.narfe.org), OPM shared that Open Season changes would be processed by Jan. 16 with coverage backdated to Jan. 1. If someone needs to use their health benefits and has not received their card yet, they can pay out of pocket and submit a reimbursement to their new insurance carrier once they get their card information. The annuity adjustment statements will be like the 1099Rs… they will email those out to all annuitants for whom OPM has an email address. They will send via mail to those for whom OPM does not have an email. Their adjusted statement is also available in their Retirement Services Online account at www.opm.gov/rso. 

OPM canceled health insurance coverage for many employees 

Rumor: OPM canceled health insurance for some recent retirees. One employee who retired on Sept. 30 under the Deferred Resignation Program received notice that her health insurance was canceled by OPM because she only had FEHB coverage for four years and 10 months. Before retirement, she was assured that her coverage would continue. Is she going to be covered?    

Solution: At retirement, your employing office will tentatively determine if you are eligible to continue enrollment. OPM will review the retirement and health benefits documents and make a final determination of eligibility to continue the FEHB enrollment into retirement. If you feel that you don’t have FEHB and you have retired recently, immediately contact your former agency's HR office first and submit a Request for Reconsideration with OPM if you have been told that you are no longer covered under FEHB https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/publications-forms/pamphlets/ri38-47.pdf.  According to the Office of Personnel Management’s Guide to Voluntary Early Retirement Regulations : 

An agency offering VERA or VSIP may be covered by a waiver of the usual participation requirement to continue health benefits into retirement.  

To continue federal health insurance into retirement, employees must generally meet a requirement of being enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program for at least 5 years prior to retirement, or since their first opportunity to enroll. Otherwise, the employee must request that OPM waive the 5-year participation requirement.  

The agency's benefits officer can assist employees in requesting a waiver from OPM. The benefits officer can also determine if an employee who is retiring from an agency with current VERA or VSIP authority is eligible for a blanket waiver of the 5-year participation requirement under Benefits Administration Letter (BAL) 04-208, dated Sept. 8, 2004, titled “Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: Participation Requirements for Employees Retiring During a Period of Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments or Voluntary Early Retirement Authority.”  

According to BAL 04-208: OPM will grant pre-approved waivers to employees who have been:  

• Covered under the FEHB Program continuously since the beginning date of the agency’s latest statutory VSIP authority, or OPM-approved VSIP or VERA authority; and  

• Retire during the statutory VSIP or OPM-approved VSIP/VERA period; and  

• Receive a VSIP; or  

• Take early optional retirement; or  

• Take discontinued service retirement based on an involuntary separation due to RIF, directed reassignment, reclassification to a lower grade or abolishment of position. 

Her agency should have provided a memo to OPM that accompanied her retirement application stating that the employee meets the requirements for a pre-approved waiver by OPM as set forth inOPM’s specific instructions to the agency.