Information and Instructions on Your Reconsideration Rights 

RI 38-47 

Previous editions are not usable Revised July 2016 

Form Approved: 

OMB No. 3206-0237 

United States 

Office of Personnel Management 

Retirement Operations 

I. Information 

Reconsideration is OPM's review of its initial decision in order 

to verify that all applicable laws and regulations were properly 

applied. 

This notice gives specific instructions on how you may request 

reconsideration of an initial decision made by OPM's 

Retirement Services in any case where the decision: 

 Affects your rights or interests under the Civil Service 

Retirement System or under the Federal Employees' 

Retirement System, except in matters pertaining to 

disability retirement and annuity overpayments. 

Different instructions apply to these exceptions; see 

below for more information. (5 CFR, Part 831 and 841) 

 Denies you basic or optional life insurance coverage 

under the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance 

Program or denies you the right to change your postretirement basic life insurance coverage after retirement. 

(5 CFR, Parts 870,871,872 and 873) 

 Denies your request to enroll or change enrollment in the 

Federal or Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits 

Program. (5 CFR, Parts 890 and 891). 

 Denies your request to permit coverage of someone as a 

family member under the Federal or Retired Federal 

Employees Health Benefits Program. 

(5 CFR, Parts 890 and 891) 

These instructions do not apply to: 

 Decisions concerning a disability retirement eligibility. 

 Initial decisions under 5 U.S.C. 8336(c) regarding law 

enforcement or firefighter eligibility. 

 Decisions to collect an annuity overpayment. 

Where applicable, OPM will give you separate specific 

instructions and information in the above instances. 

 Requests for reconsideration of claims denied by your 

health insurance carrier should be sent to the address 

shown in the brochure of your plan. 

If you want general information about benefits or a written 

decision on another matter, you should write to: 

Office of Personnel Management 

Retirement Operations Center 

P.O. Box 45 

Boyers, PA 16017-0045 

II. Procedures 

The procedures for requesting reconsideration - as established 

by Federal regulation - are as follows: 

A. Make your request in writing and state that you are 

requesting reconsideration; if possible, include a copy 

of the initial decision on which your request is based. 

Include your name, address, date of birth, claim number 

(if applicable), name of the health insurance plan 

(if applicable), and your reason(s) for the request. 

B. Your written request for reconsideration must be received 

by OPM within 30 calendar days from the date of OPM’s 

initial decision. [OPM can extend the time limit if 

you can show that you (1) were not notified of the time limit 

and were not otherwise aware of it or (2) were prevented 

from responding by a cause beyond your control.] 

C. Send your request for reconsideration to: 

Office of Personnel Management 

Legal Reconsideration Branch, Room 3349 

1900 E Street NW 

Washington, DC 20415-0001 

If you plan to submit additional evidence to support your claim 

and that evidence is not immediately available, you must: 

 Submit a written request for reconsideration within the 

30-day time limit; and 

 Include in your request for reconsideration a statement 

that you will be submitting additional evidence, a brief 

description of the evidence you will submit, your 

estimate of the date the evidence will be available, and a 

brief explanation for the delay. 

We will acknowledge receipt of your statement and let you 

know the date after which additional submissions will not be 

accepted. 

III. Final Decision 

After reviewing our initial decision and any new evidence that 

has been submitted, OPM will send you a final decision in 

writing. We will send copies of that decision to any competing 

claimants or to your employing office, if applicable. 

Public Burden Statement 

We estimate this form takes an average 45 minutes per response to 

complete, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering 

the required data, and writing the request for reconsideration. Send 

comments regarding our estimate or any other aspect of this form, 

including suggestions for reducing completion time, to the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM), Retirement Services Publications 

Team (3206-0237), Washington, DC 20415-0001. The OMB 

Number 3206-0237 is currently valid. OPM may not collect this 

information, and you are not required to respond, unless this number 

is displayed.