Tag Archives: fers disability mistakes

OPM Disability Retirement: As Strong As the Weakest Link

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Have you ever heard the phrase, that “X is only as strong as the weakest link”?  What does that mean?  When applied to Federal Disability Retirement applications, it has significance and application on multiple levels.  Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS and CSRS has multiple, and almost an infinite amount of, potholes, dangers, traps and landmines, both hidden and apparent — and that is from the viewpoint of the attorney.

I can only imagine what it is like for the Federal or Postal employee who thinks as follows:  I have a serious medical condition; there is a benefit called “disability retirement”; let me make copies of my medical records, fill out the forms, and submit it.  I should get it with no problems.  I get telephone calls almost on a daily basis from people who say, “I can’t believe that the Office of Personnel Management disapproved my claim.  What did I do wrong?”  Often, it is the Office of Personnel Management that “did something wrong”, and it is up to the Attorney to point that fact out.

Now, back to the original thought of this blog:  A case is only as strong as the weakest link.  As Federal Disability Retirement applications have many complex issues surrounding and central to the application and the application process, it is important to make sure that even the weakest link of the packet — whether it is the doctor’s report, the Applicant’s Statement of Disability, the legal arguments to be made, etc. — make sure that the weakest of the links is strong enough to withstand the selective (and often unfair) reasoning and attacks of the Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Pre and Post

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Issues revolving around the initial application stage, during the application stage, and after the approval, are often of equal importance.  This is because the approval of a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS will ensure the financial and economic survival and viability of the Federal or Postal employee.  Thus, in the pre-approval stage of the process, it is often good to engage in some future planning:  How hard will I fight for Social Security Disability?  Will I be getting a part-time job to supplement my income?  Where will I live?  During the process of obtaining disability retirement, there is the long wait, and the ability to remain financially afloat while receiving little or no financial support.  Post-approval, there are issues of the potential for receiving a Medical Questionnaire from the Office of Personnel Management.  Whether the current doctor will continue to be supportive, or will I move and need to find another doctor?  Because getting Federal disability retirement benefits is a life-long process, it is important to get sound legal advice from a competent attorney throughout the process — pre, during, and post process.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

FERS Disability Retirement: An Art Form (Part I of II)

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As with all effective submissions — pleadings, motions, legal memorandums and, alas, Federal Disability Retirement applications — it should never be approached in a mechanical, one-to-one ratio-like, mathematical manner.  Of course it should contain the technical terms, the medical terms, and the legal arguments.

However, disability retirement under FERS & CSRS — especially the Applicant’s Statement of disability and any legal arguments — should not be matter of matching up a one-to-one correspondence between the medical condition and the particular essential elements which it prevents or impacts.

Certainly, the effect and the conclusion should contain that conceptual correspondence; however, as all good writing contains a technical side, it is also important to weave the story of the human condition and see the writing as an “art” form.

The impact of the human story is important in convincing and persuading the OPM representative to not only understand the medical condition, but to get a sense of empathy for what the applicant is going through.  It is a delicate balance to achieve; yes, the hard legal arguments should be made in order to “force” OPM to see that, legally, they are obligated to approve a disability retirement application; at the same time, if you can touch the empathetic nature of the OPM representative, so much the better.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

See also: ”An Art Form (Part II)”

Common Mistakes in Filing for CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement (Part III)

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Words are peculiar animals; they are meant to convey meanings through stringing together, creating conceptual models, images, descriptive thoughts.  Thus, one would think that the greater quantity of words would lead to a greater level of thoughts conveyed, images created, etc.  However, what often happens (a common mistake found in unrepresented applicants who file for disability retirement under FERS & CSRS) is that there is a ‘fatigue factor’ by the reader: in this case, the reviewing person at the Office of Personnel Management.
People often either overstate his or her medical disability, or tend to think that pages and pages of a stream-of-consciousness narrative about one’s medical conditions will persuade the reviewer of the seriousness of the medical condition.  Neither are necessary.  Let the medical condition itself speak to the seriousness.
The applicant does not need to overstate it; and a voluminous narrative only points out and emphasizes a suspicion that there is some underlying reason as to why you feel the need to explain yourself so much.  Use of words is a ‘balancing act’ — using the right words; explaining the right amount; creating the right string of thoughts and images.  An effective disability retirement application must find the right balance of all of these elements.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Common Mistakes in Filing for CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement (Part II)

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Always emphasize quality over quantity of medical records & reports. A common mistake often made by unrepresented individuals is that he or she will ship off to the Office of Personnel Management a large packet of medical records, bills, appointment sheets, raw blood test results, etc.

A potential applicant is always wise to try and look at it from OPM’s viewpoint: if you were a reviewer at OPM, which disability retirement application that is assigned to you would you look at on a Monday morning — the one that is 6-inches thick, or the one that is 1/2 inch thick?

Further, untranslated raw test results rarely effectuate a positive response.  Raw data that merely conveys numbers, unless interpreted by a physician as to the medical significance of such raw data, will not impress anyone at the Office of Personnel Management.

It is the job of an attorney to use the tools of an attorney: effective and descriptive words, and to help the applicant to find the proper descriptive words to convey the serious medical conditions that he or she suffers from.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Common Mistakes in Filing for CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement (Part I)

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There are multiple mistakes often made when an unrepresented individual files for disability retirement under FERS & CSRS. One such common mistake is the very presentation of an application packet that is presented to the Office of Personnel Management.

Often, when an individual has a disability retirement application denied at the First Stage, and has asked me to represent him/her at the second, Reconsideration Stage, I find that what the individual did at the first stage was to put together the packet of medical records — often, a voluminous set breathtaking in its sheer quantity of pages — thinking that because he/she has serious medical issues, that the great quantity of medical records in itself will justify qualification of a disability retirement packet.

Volume of medical records rarely qualifies an individual for disability retirement. Instead, it must be remembered that eligibility and qualification for disability retirement benefits is determined by a set of legal criteria that must be met by a preponderance of the evidence, and it is up to the applicant and his/her legal representative to meet that burden of proof.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal & Postal Employees with Permanent Partial Disabilities

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Federal employees with chronic medical conditions are especially “vulnerable” because of the inherently precarious financial situation that an applicant often finds him/herself in, and often desperate need for an approval from the Office of Personnel Management.

Most of the cases that I represent are approved at the First Stage; upon a denial, however, it is necessary to go to the Second Stage, or the “Request for Reconsideration Stage.”  A Federal employee has 30 days from the date of the denial letter to file a request for reconsideration, then another 30 days to obtain and submit additional medical and supporting documentation.

If it is denied a second time, then an applicant has a right to file an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).  While the MSPB will hear the case de novo (meaning, “anew” without consideration of OPM’s prior decisions), nevertheless, it is important to always look upon each OPM Disability Retirement case as a “case in progress”, and that is why hiring an OPM Disability Retirement attorney at the outset is often important.

While most “mistakes” made by an applicant are minor and correctable, everything that is submitted — the applicant’s statement, any records or reports submitted — become part of the record as a whole and cannot be retracted or erased.  That is why a thorough review by a competent Federal Disability Lawyer is important in filing for OPM Medical Retirement.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire