Title: ‘I was very scared': OPM backlog has some federal retirees, survivors waiting months for benefits
Article Snip: "After her husband passed away last October, Diana Kimberlin says she knew it would take some time for her to receive the survivor benefits he signed up for while working for the federal government. But Kimberlin said she never imagined the process through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would take longer than four months, forcing her to delay paying many bills and wrecking her credit score. “I always paid my bills on time. I couldn't even pay anything,” she said, adding, “I didn't know how far I was going to have to wait. It didn't take me too long to figure out it was going to be awhile.“...“They have to put in place new systems,” Van Hollen said. “We’ve been after them to do that. They’re not doing it fast enough, in my mind." In a congressional hearing earlier this year, the head of OPM blamed the backlog on historic underfunding of the agency, staffing and technology, noting OPM is still transitioning from a paper-based system to the digital era. ..."
Reference: www.nbcwashington.com