Action Needed To Reduce, Account for, and Collect Overpayments to Federal Retirees

GAO undertook a review to determine whether the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has adequate internal controls to prevent, account for, and collect overpayments made from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.

GAO found that most OPM retirement and disability fund overpayments occur when beneficiaries undergo a status change that either eliminates their entitlement to benefits or reduces the amount payable to them. OPM relies on the beneficiary or the estate executors to report changes in status. Overpayments occur because beneficiaries do not report status changes and because OPM does not process reported changes promptly. GAO found that greater control over payments to beneficiaries might have avoided millions of dollars in overpayments over the past 5 years and might also have reduced the time and cost of recovering them. GAO believes that accurate accounting is essential if OPM is to manage the control and reporting of overpayments and provide the necessary information to maximize the collection of overpayments. Finally, GAO found that billing and collection practices for overpayments at OPM are not in accordance with federal claims collection standards and are frequently not effective.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: John F. Simonette Team: General Accounting Office: Accounting and Financial Management Division Phone: (202) 275-1581