7 Investigates: Federal Pension Problems

Excerpt:

The average pension is processed in two to three months.

So why wasn’t Karen getting her checks?

The government agency that processes pensions for federal workers, the Office of Personnel Management, tells 7-Investigates it has a backlog of more than 25,000 and that “the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted normal operations.”

An agency spokesperson says that’s because the work is “paper-based,” and need to be shared with different agencies.

Anna-Marie Tabor, director of the Pension Action Center at UMass Boston, says that’s surprising to hear.

“It’s a big problem especially during the pandemic when people can’t just go into the office and pull out a box of documents. These records really should be converted to electronic documents so that they can be accessed in 2021, especially in case of a pandemic,” says Tabor.

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Publication Date: 18 May 2021

Publication Site: 7 News Boston