FERS Disability Retirement Benefits: Nothing New Under the Sun

Nothing is ever new under the sun; it is only from the perspective of the new that “newness” is perceived.  Thus, if you live long enough, you will witness the identical political issues come around, the same problems crop up, and parallel arguments made.

History has an innate cycle; it is merely our memories which fail to recognize the repetition.  Sometimes, of course, the old metaphor of something being dressed up in wolves’ clothing is also appropriate — meaning, merely, that the issue itself is an old one; it has merely changed its appearance in order to make it look new.

From the newborn’s perspective, of course, everything is new, fresh and pure — well, maybe not pure, if you count the dilapidated buildings, bridges and abandoned ballrooms.  To the newly initiated, the term “new” merely means that it has not previously been encountered; no memory of it exists; and the newness is based upon the premise that it has not been experienced until now.

Nevertheless, despite the protestations by the newly initiated that it is “new” to them, the plain fact is that there really is nothing new under the sun.

Why do we use the term, “under the sun”?  Because it describes the parameters of our phenomenological experience — of this universe and this planet.  Even the recent video footage from the drone helicopter showing us the “new” terrain on Mars is not really “new”; it’s been there for centuries.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the medical condition itself is clearly something “new”.  Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM will be a new experience.

What you want to do, however, is to consult with a Federal Disability Attorney whose experience and knowledge will show that even that experience is nothing new under the sun; otherwise, you might end up being guided by someone who doesn’t really know what he or she is talking about.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer