In debate, there are two primary methodologies of attacking: the micro-approach, where each individual strand of an opponent’s argument is dismantled, leaving the opposition with no singular weapon to use; or the macro-approach, where — because some of the individual arguments may withstand scrutiny — the universal umbrella of the argument as a whole is attacked, thereby dismantling the entirety of the whole.
In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, OPM will utilize one of the two approaches. At times, OPM will selectively choose one or two of the medical conditions, barely mentioning the rest, then attack the lack of documentary support on those particularized medical conditions. Or, at other times, OPM will make sweeping generalizations and fail to specifically identify, and selectively ignore, the details of individual medical conditions. Regardless of the methodology of approach, the ultimate result of either approach is a denial.
The question is how one responds to either approach.
The answer is often based upon the construction of the Applicant’s Statement of Disability. This is where it is important to weave the particular with the aggregate, where the construction of each individual medical condition is argued to depend upon the greater whole, and where the cumulative impact of the various medical conditions constitute an inseparable whole. The flexibility of language allows for this; the medical narrative report should reflect this.
This is why spending valuable time at the front end of a Federal Disability Retirement case is important; for the later stages of the administrative process may well depend upon it.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application | Tagged: applying for federal disability, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, common excuses the opm uses to deny disability benefits, coordination of medical conditions and federal disability retirement, creating a compelling picture of your medical condition, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, emphasizing the whole of several conditions during the formulation of a fers disability claim, explaining how all your medical conditions will affect work performance to the opm, explaining my medical conditions in the applicant's statements, Federal Disability, federal disability law blog, federal disability retirement, fers disability and considering the impact of several medical conditions, FERS disability retirement, if the applicant has several medical conditions, lack of objective medical evidence used to deny postal disability, listing several medical conditions in an opm disability application, medical condition(s), OPM disability retirement, opm's excuses to deny your federal disability retirement, opm's methodology to deny disability benefits to federal employees, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability, postal service disability retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, the opm also uses its 'arsenal of weapons' to deny disability benefits, USPS disability retirement, when there are several medical conditions, withstanding the selective reasoning of the opm for denying a claim |
Leave a Reply