In attempting to decide to file for Federal Disability Retirement Benefits, it is often the case that Social Security disability benefits must be considered (not just “considered”, obviously, for FERS employees, because it is a requirement to file for it), and how seriously and vigorously; and further, whether to pursue, or to continue on, OWCP temporary total disability benefits. These are “paradigms” that must be considered for the future. By “paradigm”, I mean that they represent “models” of how a person wants his or her future to be based upon.
For instance, let’s take the paradigm of Social Security disability benefits. Because FERS employees who file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits must also file for Social Security disability benefits (to see if they qualify; and, if qualified, the offsetting features will apply), one must take into consideration whether or not a Federal or Postal employee will actually want Social Security disability benefits. This question arises because Social Security has a “cap” in which a person who receives Social Security disability benefits can make ancillary earned income (roughly no more than $10,000 per year). Because of this, one must think of the future paradigm of one’s life: If a person on FERS disability retirement wants to go out and get a part-time job, or start on a path for another career, where he or she makes 15, 20, 25,000 per year or more (because remember, a person can make up to 80% of what a person’s former Federal or Postal job currently pays), then he or she may not want to get Social Security disability benefits. Most people who are on Federal disability retirement are simply disabled from performing one or more of the essential elements of the particular job; they are not “totally disabled”, and therefore are able to go out and start a second career. This is the “paradigm” for the future which must be considered, and such a model for the future must be carefully thought through. Next: the OWCP paradigm.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits, Post-Application Issues, Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: are there "strings attached" on social security disability retirement?, choices that the opm disability annuitant must make, civil service disability retirement, different us agencies have different disability concepts, disability benefits for usitc employees, disability retirement benefits for air traffic controllers, disability retirement for federal employees, disability retirement for us federal employees in the us virgin islands, federal disability retirement annuitants, federal employee retirement attorney, federal employees considering ssdi and ssi, federal employees disability retirement system, Federal Medical Evidence of Record Program (FEDMER), fers disability and social security disability insurance ssdi, fers disability provisions, FERS disability retirement, helping injured federal workers, if the opm disability annuitant does really want ssdi, important issues to opm disability annuitants, injured postal workers, legal representation for injured federal workers, life after the opm disability application, light duty federal employees and the social security, medical disability for the bureau of prisons employee, medical retirement for employees in small us agencies, medical retirement from federal service, nationwide representation of federal employees, opm disability and social security eligibility, opm disability and social security income considerations, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement blog, OWCP disability, owcp dol, paradigms that fed employees face on disability retirement, post disability application issues, postal and social security disability, postal reform package and the future of light duty employees, postal service disability retirement, postal worker’s injury, resources for injured federal workers, Social Security and OPM disability relationship, social security disability compensation for opm disability retirees, ssd and opm disability, ssdi benefits and its implications in earning capacity, the light duty postal employee considering ssdi benefits, US Postal Disability, usps disability benefits, USPS disability retirement, usps medical disability, usps separation, Waiting for Federal Disability Retirement, workers comp for letters carriers |
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