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    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
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Federal Government & USPS Disability Retirement: The Volume Appearance

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

It cuts both ways; and we all do it.  The “substance” of X can be either qualitative or quantitative, but rarely both.  If it lacks in substance, we believe that it can be made to look good by increasing its volume — i.e., heftiness = substantive relevance.  If it possesses inherent substance, on the other hand, it rarely requires greater volume.

The disjunctive rule is often applied here: Things rarely contain both.  Modern novels are a testament to the rule: Hundreds of pages with little to say.  Then, look at Hemingway’s greatest work — The Old Man and the Sea.  A short book; a masterpiece.  Shakespeare is the best example of containing both — quality of work, quantity of work.

In modernity, volume gives the appearance of substance, even when there is very little of it.  In a FERS Disability Retirement case, don’t think that gathering your decades-long medical records is sufficient to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  A qualitative medical report is often necessary.  The converse is true, as well: OPM will write a long and meandering denial letter which has no logical or substantive input.

It is, again, the “Volume Appearance” — of trying to make it appear as though the volume of their denial letter accounts for its validity.  It does not.

Contact a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law in order to counteract the volume appearance — both for yourself in preparing the Federal Disability Retirement case, as well as in preempting OPM’s attempt to bamboozle you with a Volume Appearance Denial Letter — and no, the term “bamboozle” is not a legal/technical term, but it is what it is, as the modern colloquialism goes.

Sincerely, Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, Pre-Application Considerations | Tagged: addison's disease disorders federal employee, authorized medical leave long term, csrs application for immediate retirement doctor’s physician form, disability for federal employees, disability retirement federal law enforcement, disapproval of federal disability retirement, does medicare end when fers disability converts to regular retirement? you’ll have same federal employee health insurance not medicare unless you get ssdi too, does va compensation affects disability retirement? call attorney McGill who offers a free first time consultation, feca long term stress leave and bullying, federal disability requirements for fibromyalgia, federal disability retirement attorney tampa, federal disability retirement due to ptsd, federal employee with severe arthritis, federal employees and postal service issuing proposed medical removal actions, federal employees on opm fers disability pension, federal employment: awol after fmla expires, federal government medical disability, fepblue.org disability options for federal employees, fers disability retirement application, fers disability retirement office of personnel management, fers employee adrenal insufficiency, fers physician's statement help, fers retirement federal workers compensation, going from owcp periodic rolls to opm disability retirement, is an opm scheduled award taxable? I don’t think so but just in case ask atty mac (I am sure he won’t mind even if you don’t pursue disability), medical retirement application for immediate retirement, medical retirement from federal government, office of personnel management disability retirement, opm, opm applying for disability, opm disability pension and social security disability (search ssdi in this blog), opm disability retirement specialist blog, opm federal disability lawyer in so southern california, opm medical benefits, opm ptsd, opm workman's comp disability retirement claim forms, owcp accepted conditions for medical retirement, owcp early medical retirement, OWCP long term disability, part time work pending disability retirement, plantar fasciitis in letter carriers, postal employee with disabilities, ptsd and medically retired from civil service job, ptsd and opm, ptsd disability civilian help, ptsd usps, reasons for a medical retirement from the usps, resigning from dod positions due to disabling conditions, stress related claims owcp medical retirement, u.s. office of personnel management’s disability retirement department, us post office letter of removal for medical incapacity, us postal workers disability in california, usps injury comp medical pension, va employee and fers disability retirement, working is allowed under fers disability (not like owcp), writing a federal disability retirement application, writing medical resignation letter to federal government | Leave a comment »

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: The Volume-based Application

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

A declaration of the sheer volume of medical evidence submitted is often an indicator of the basis for which a Federal Disability Retirement application was formulated; for, in the end, if reliance of the successful outcome of a Federal Disability Retirement application is expected based upon the longevity and extent of a medical condition, the chances of an initial approval may be somewhat compromised to begin with.

Volume can never replace content; and from the perspective of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, there is often an underlying suspicion that receipt of a thousand pages of medical documentation indicates merely that volume of treatment is being substituted for the substantive content of meeting the required legal standards.

Much of medical notation and treatment records merely reflect a particular appointment’s mechanical applications — continuation of previous treatment plan; refill of prescriptions; standard positive or negative responses to particular questions; prospective treatment modalities; and, as supportive evidence attached to a substantive medical report, they can reinforce the satisfaction of the legal criteria of establishing the necessary nexus between one’s medical condition and the inability to perform the essential elements of one’s job.  But left as a replacement for the doctor’s explicit statement confirming such a nexus, it remains a hollow voice within an expansive but empty chamber.

One should never mistake the legal distinction between “primary” evidence and “supportive” evidence.  The former is meant to establish the nexus between one’s medical condition and the essential elements of one’s job; the latter is submitted to reinforce the former.  When one utilizes the former as the substitute for the latter, it is like the self-delusion that just because you are the best player on a pick-up team in your neighborhood, you are ready to enter into the world of professional sports.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: a good measure of credible proof to show you are disabled under fers/csrs laws, a process that requires proof and documentation, a strong and solid foundation for your fers disability retirement case: high quality and a relative quantity of medical evidence, accurate and proper medical documentation key for getting fers disability, advice on the opm disability retirement paperwork and process, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, being careful with the medical documentation you submit to opm, building a strong opm claim doesn't take lots of medical documents, can you add medical documentation after originally submitting opm disability claim?, compiling medical evidence to support opm disability application, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, deciding what medical documentation is relevant to your opm claim, determining whether you have enough medical evidence for an opm claim, disability paperwork usps, do I have the appropriate medical documentation to support my fers disability retirement application?, documentation proof during the federal disability retirement process, emphasizing quality in submitting opm medical records, evidence needed to get my fers disability application approved, FERS disability retirement, finding persuasive evidence to approve your fers disability application, gathering medical documentation for an incapacitated federal employee, getting quality and substantial medical documentation, getting relevant medical documentation key in securing opm disability, getting the right forms and medical evidence for your federal disability application, giving only quality information in your fers disability retirement, handling your fers disability application paperwork to your agency, how much medical documentation opm disability retirement, insights to the opm proof-process, keeping track of all disability retirement paperwork submitted to opm, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, making rational arguments along with sound medical evidence, medical evidence a federal worker will need to retire for ptsd, nationwide representation of federal employees, opm disability application paperwork flow, opm disability legal sufficiency and proof, OPM disability retirement, place quality over quantity, postal service disability retirement, proof of disability for federal workers, proof of eligibility in federal postal disability, quality versus quantity on medical documentation, quantity and quality of information in the internet about the fdr process, relevance over quantity in opm medical retirement paperwork, representing federal employees from any us government agency, submitting a balanced and credible medical documentation to the opm, the nature of your medical conditions determines the quality and quantity of the medical documentation needed to win a case, the opm must evaluate medical documentation, time for the doctor to prepare a proper opm medical documentation, USPS disability retirement, usps medical documentation requirements, what kind of paperwork do I need to show I need to medically retire from the government, what medical documents to use in an opm disability application, what medical evidence is needed for an opm claim?, what other medical documentation to use in fers disability retirement, when the opm argues that your medical documentation is not good enough, your weakest medical documentation is the one that the opm may use to deny fers disability benefits | Leave a comment »

Disability Retirement for Federal Government Employees: Extensive Evidence

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

When first encountering the vastness of the sea, the young child pointed to it and said to his father with a breathless sense of wonderment and awe.  “It’s like a big swimming pool,” the child said.  “It won’t taste like one, though.  And do you see the waves?”  The boy stood in silence.

The mystery of the world, its infinite puzzlement, in contrast to man’s vain attempt to artificially recreate a semblance of its beauty, revealed itself to the child’s uncorrupted eyes.  Only a child whose first encounter with creation could see the true nature of being; the rest of us, compromised by age, cynicism and self-indulgence, would forever be blind to its breathless scope of beauty.

Such a slice of life story is meant to illustrate the distinction between substantive extensiveness, and a smaller version thereof, in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Volume of evidence (i.e., likened to “the ocean”) can be persuasive; yet, if it is merely an elaborate pool, then lack of substance may undermine its own efficacy.  On the other hand, a short but “to-the-point” medical report may be very effective, precisely because it is exactly what it was meant to be:  without much fluff, the doctor is unequivocal in his or her medical opinion.

The point throughout is that there is never a science in the compilation of proof in formulating an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.  Or, to put it another way:  don’t try to recreate something which cannot be copied; sometimes, the evidence is what it is, and how one presents the evidence will make all the difference.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: a good measure of credible proof to show you are disabled under fers/csrs laws, a process that requires proof and documentation, accepting opm disability clients all across america, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, common sense tips on the disability application and documentation, compiling medical evidence to support opm disability application, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, dangers about a voluminous fers disability package, document preparation and opm disability law, documentation for federal medical retirement, documentation proof during the federal disability retirement process, federal disability law blog, federal employment disability compensation report, FERS disability retirement, getting quality and substantial medical documentation, getting the right medical evidence to get your fers disability approved, importance of the narrative report on opm disability, insufficient medical documentation for OPM disability, making rational arguments along with sound medical evidence, medical evidence submitted to the opm for disability purposes, medical report from treating physicians for fers disability claim, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, medical reports to use in an opm disability claim, nationwide representation of federal employees, OPM disability retirement, opm medical documents, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp disability retirement, preponderance of the evidence documents, proof of disability for federal workers, representing federal employees from any us government agency, submitting a voluminous amount of medical documentation to the opm, sufficient medical evidence disability fers, the evidence you need to prove disability with the opm, USPS disability retirement, writing a successful personal narrative report | Leave a comment »

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: Time for Comparison and Double-checking

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Upon an initial denial of a Federal Disability Retirement application, the Federal or Postal employee has a right to Request Reconsideration of the denied Federal Disability Retirement application within thirty (30) days of the date of denial (the rules allow for a later date — 30 days from the date of receipt — but it is always advisable to utilize the date of the letter, as that date can obviously be verified).

If the Federal or Postal employee is denied a second time, then there is a right to an appeal to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.  Again, the timeframe within which one must file an appeal to the MSPB is identical to that which one has at the Reconsideration Stage of the process — 30 days, or the later one of receipt of date of the letter.

Often, when one reads through a denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, there is a growing suspicion that OPM has either ignored, overlooked, or otherwise has never received for review, important and significant documentation, whether medical or otherwise, which should have been part of the file.

Once an appeal is filed with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is mandated to forward a complete copy of the file to the “Appellant” (the one who is filing the appeal) and to the attorney for the Appellant.  Once this file is received, it is important to “compare notes”, and to determine whether the “missing piece of information” is indeed missing, and may need to be re-submitted.

That is the time for comparing notes (“files”, in this case), and double-checking whether OPM has all of the information it should have.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: appeal deadlines and other medical documentation submitted to the opm, appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, comparing documentation submitted to the office of personnel management, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, deadlines and procedures to appeal, denial letter as part of a long disability process, disability appeal MSPB, Federal Disability, fers review process for disability retirement, getting an attorney for the third stage of the federal disability retirement process, how long to appeal an opm disability application denial?, if your fers disability application has been denied for a second time, legal help after first application denial, legal representation for injured federal workers, less anxiety and fear by taking an experienced federal attorney aboard, meeting an appeal deadline, one easy way to lose a mspb appeal: don't request medical files from the opm, opm application for disability benefits, opm claims appeal, opm disability and appeal, opm's reviews for federal disability elegibility, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability retirement, review of documentation during the mspb appeal stage, the light duty postal worker and the merit system protection board, third stage of the federal disability factor: time to compare and double check the submitted documentation, this is the second time they denied my federal disability application, time for reinspection and reexamination of all the applicant's federal disability files, time limit to appeal an OPM disability denial, us postal service merit protection board, usps denial of injury compensation, USPS disability retirement, when the opm denies your disability application for a second time | Leave a comment »

Disability Retirement for Federal Workers: Different Benefits

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS and CSRS, it is often thought that medical documentation obtained for one venue of eligible benefits (e.g., Worker’s Compensation or SSDI, or VA benefits) can be utilized in the pursuit of FERS or CSRS Disability Retirement benefits.  However, because the applicable criteria which each Federal program or benefit is different, one should always take care before submitting the same, or similar, medical documentation, for multiple and varied applications.  

It is not so much that such documentation cannot be deemed relevant for multiple purposes; rather, relevance is a relative concept, and while X can be relevant for A & B, it may only meet the statutory criteria for A but not for B.

Further, every answer to a question depends upon what the question is.  For FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement, the question always involves whether or not a Federal or Postal employee’s medical condition(s) prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.  The question involving SSDI, VA Benefits or OWCP is a completely different one.  

However, a particular medical document may in fact cross the boundaries of relevance and address a specific issue or aspect of a question, and for that limited purposes, may in fact be “relevant enough” to be submitted.  Such submissions crossing boundaries, however, must be done with care and deliberation; for, while it may answer one aspect of a Federal Disability Retirement application, it could potentially raise multiple other questions which might have been best to leave alone.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: additional evidence to sustain your fers disability claim, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, civil service disability retirement, compiling additional supporting documentation, discerning what medical documentation to submit to the opm, documentation for medical retirement, documentation you can used from your ssdi claim, empirical evidence on opm disability claims, federal disability lawyer, FERS disability retirement, getting proof you mailed opm disability forms and documents, getting quality and substantial medical documentation, getting relevant medical documentation key in securing opm disability, including only relevant information on the fers disability claim, medical documentation as the linchpin of a fers disability claim, Medical Documentation for OPM Disability Retirement, medical documentation guidelines, medical evidence, medical evidence from the workers comp process, medical evidence submitted to the opm for disability purposes, medical evidence you can use in your workers comp or opm claim, objective medical evidence for federal disability cases, only relevant narrative and medical information in the standard form 3112, OPM disability retirement, opm medical documents, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp disability retirement really is usually meant "opm disability retirement", postal service disability retirement, preponderance of the evidence concept in fers disability law, preponderance of the evidence documents, supporting substantial medical evidence to OPM, the relevance of the owcp medical examination, USPS disability retirement | Leave a comment »

Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: Inconsistencies

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

While the legal standard of “preponderance of the evidence” is the statutorily mandated criteria to be applied as the burden of proof in a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, the question which needs to be asked is:  Assuming that a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS contains sufficient medical documentation to meet the legal criteria, what is it that would undermine the application and result in a denial of the Federal Disability Retirement application?  

The overwhelming pattern of that which defeats a Federal Disability Retirement application from being approved — at any stage of the process — is the revelation of inconsistencies between various aspects of the application.  

Thus, whether it is the internal inconsistency of medical records versus the medical narrative report which the doctor has prepared; the apparent inconsistency between a Supervisor’s Statement and the Applicant’s Statement of Disability; or the potentially exaggerated inconsistency between the Applicant’s Statement of Disability and the Medical Narrative Report(s) — such are the fodder which the Office of Personnel Management is looking for in order to provide a substantiating and justifying basis to deny a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.  

One must understand, however, that many inconsistencies are merely “apparent”, and can be easily explained — if needed to be explained at all.  Thus, for example, notations in the medical records/office notes where the treating doctor has annotated numerous instances of “improvement” from a previous office visit, are merely apparently inconsistent with a conclusion that a person can no longer perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.  

An exaggerated Applicant’s Statement, however, which overstates one’s medical conditions beyond what the doctor is willing to state, can be a more difficult inconsistency to overcome and correct.  It is important to always recognize the difference between apparent, inherent, and natural inconsistencies, and to understand that some inconsistencies need to be “left alone”, while others may need to be attended to.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: applicant preponderance of evidence burden in federal employees, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, avoiding contradictions in your fers disability application, avoiding pitfalls during your fers disability retirement claim, checking out your fers disability application as a whole before giving it to hr, consistency physician statement work medical release opm, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, evaluating your federal disability claim for inconsistencies, evaluating your fers disability application as a whole, FERS disability lawyer, FERS disability retirement, how to avoid pitfalls in your fers disability application, in federal disability cases: don't contradict your own doctor, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, medical documentation as the linchpin of a fers disability claim, natural inconsistencies in your csrs disability claim, opm disability law and the preponderance of evidence concept, OPM disability retirement, opm medical retirement contact, preponderance of the evidence concept in fers disability law, preponderance of the evidence documents, USPS disability retirement, your treating doctors | Leave a comment »

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Medical Records Alone

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Medical records can provide valuable information, and as a tool in getting a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS approved, it should be selectively submitted.  Can it replace a medical narrative report from a treating doctor?  Normally, a narrative report from one’s treating doctor — whether a specialist, a family doctor, a psychiatrist, etc. — is invaluable in preparing, formulating, and submitting a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.  The combination of the two, of course, is unequivocally the best-case scenario:  of a medical narrative report supported by, and in consonance with, the office notes, surgical notes, treatment notes, etc.

However, it is not impossible to get a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS approved based upon medical records alone.  If that is the only course of action left — with the alternative choices being of walking away without filing for Disability Retirement benefits — then a Federal Disability Retirement application based upon one’s medical records alone can be successfully argued, but it must be done with meticulous care, and squeezing every notation and attribution of annotations to their fullest relevance, extent and extrapolating significance.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: accurate and proper medical documentation key for getting fers disability, being careful with the medical documentation you submit to opm, building a strong opm claim doesn't take lots of medical documents, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, dancing without the occupational medicine physician, do I really need a lawyer?, doctor uncooperation with usps medical disability claim, enlisting the help of an owcp- or agency-paid occupational medicine doctor, federal employees with paperphobia doctors, FERS disability retirement, fighting the curse of an owcp-assigned nurse, if your doctor won't cooperate with your federal disability case, if your treating doctor is being paid by the united states postal service...., in the event your treating physician was assigned by the office of workers comp, it the owcp federal employee doesn't have a supportive physician, large amount of medical documentation for opm disability retirement, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, medical documentation guidelines, medical documentation tools used to prove a usps disability case, medical records in opm disability application, medical records reviewed by the OPM, nationwide representation of federal employees, no medical narrative from an owcp-appointed doctor, OPM disability retirement, opm medical documents, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp disability retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, situations when you really need the help of a federal disability lawyer, the importance of medical records in opm disability law, the less your doctor help the more you need help from an opm disability lawyer, the opm must evaluate medical documentation, USPS disability retirement, usps medical documentation requirements, what if my doctor refuses to cooperate in a claim for fers disability?, what to do if your doctor won't cooperate with your omp disabiliy claim, when the injured federal worker must go solo, when the owcp-assigned treating physician won't cooperate with the postal worker | Leave a comment »

OPM Disability Retirement: Office Notes (Continued…)

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

The Office of Personnel Management has every right to establish a consistency of medical treatment and opinions rendered on the part of the doctor, the specialist, the medical facility, etc.  One of the reasons why Federal Disability Retirement benefits are (in great part) determined by the opinion of the “treating doctor”, as opposed to a determination made by a medical doctor who makes such disability determinations but is not the applicant’s “treating doctor”, is that such a determination (in the eyes of Federal Disability Retirement laws, statutes, MSPB case laws, etc.) can best be rendered by a medical specialist who has a long-standing relationship with the patient/applicant, over a long period of time, to determine the extent, severity, chronicity, etc., of the medical condition claimed.  

With this in mind, there often arises a conflict of sorts:  On the one hand, most people who are attending to their medical needs, are not thinking in terms of “getting Federal Disability Retirement benefits” during the time of treatment.  The critical point of when the line becomes drawn, where treatment & chronicity begin to conflict; or where, despite every attempt by the doctor to prescribe treatment modalities, there appears to be a medical condition which is “intractable”, is often a difficult one to determine.  In most cases, the office/treatment notes will reveal the line, which may come about gradually.  At other times, one may have a doctor who thinks that he or she can successfully treat any and all conditions, and reflects such a “positive” outlook in every office notation.  This is often not helpful, when it comes time to filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.  To counter this, a frank discussion with the doctor at some point may become necessary.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, choosing the best time to file for federal disability retirement, civil service disability retirement, consistency in the whole federal disability retirement package, consistency of medical treatment in a medical record submitted to the opm, disability retirement for federal employees, disability retirement for federal workers and doctors' notes, federal disability law blog, federal employees and treatment of medical conditions, fers disability and that special special doctor-patient relationship, FERS disability retirement, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, long standing doctor relationship opm, medical and surgical treatments in opm disability decisions, medical determination of the treating physician in fers disability retirement, medical opinions from different health care providers in the opm disability claim, medication treatment on federal disability retirement cases, more weight to your treating physician opinion, nationwide representation of federal employees, notes on illness causation and situation disability for federal employees, OPM Disability and the Ideal Doctor and Patient Relationship, OPM disability lawyer, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement consistency, opm medical diagnosis and treatments, opm medical documents, physician's support for medical retirement in the federal workplace, representing federal employees from any us government agency, representing federal employees in and outside the country, support to a physician's medical narrative, the advantage of a doctor of long-standing tenure, the importance of medical opinions from specialists in the opm disability claim, the importance of medical records in opm disability law, the most important opinion in the federal disability process, the right time to file for disability retirement with the us government, time to have a candid conversation with your doctor about fers disability, treatment of mental illnesses, USPS disability retirement, USPS disability retirement benefits, your doctor's opinion and the federal disability medical form, your treating doctors | Leave a comment »

Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: Office Notes

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

The Office of Personnel Management will often request that a doctor’s “office” or “treatment” notes be attached for approximately the last 1 – 2 years.  What is the purpose of this request?  Normally, to compare whether or not the doctor’s treatment notes reveal the consistency with what is stated in the narrative report prepared by the doctor.  This is often unfair, of course, because the purpose of office notes is quite different from the purpose behind a narrative report requested to support a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.  

Office notes often reflect a cursory overview of the type of treatment rendered, and will sometimes contain statements of the positive advances and treatment responses of the patient/applicant, including any progress made in response to therapy, surgery, treatment, and medication regimens.  Thus, statements such as, “patient is showing good progress” or “Patient comes in today feeling much better” may be used by the Office of Personnel Management to deny a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, and yet such statements must always be seen within the context of treatment, and in no way are inconsistent with a medical narrative report which clearly and unequivocally shows that a Federal or Postal employee is no longer able to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.  Next:  How to overcome OPM’s unwarranted focus upon the Office/Treatment notes.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) | Tagged: attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, believing on opm's excuses to deny your federal disability benefits, considering opm's methodology, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, deciding what medical documentation is relevant to your opm claim, federal disability attorney, FERS disability retirement, getting relevant medical documentation key in securing opm disability, how the owcp and opm deny temporary and total disability claims, importance of the narrative report on opm disability, making an effort to preempt opm's future legal arguments, making sense out of the opm's reasoning, medical documentation required to get an opm disability approval, medical narrative reports that support a federal employee's claim, medication treatment on federal disability retirement cases, more about the medical documentation in the fers disability application, nationwide representation of federal employees, opm medical documents, opm's, opm's error track-record, opm's excuses to deny your federal disability retirement, opm's reviews for federal disability elegibility, owcp disability retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, selectively rebutting some of opm's reasons for denial, statutory requirements in OPM disability law, support to a physician's medical narrative, the opm must evaluate medical documentation, the opm's decision to approve or deny federal disability retirement, the opm's power of the opion in federal disability matters, understanding opm's methodology to develop own, USPS disability retirement benefits, usps medical documentation requirements, what the opm can do to deny your disability retirement application, when the opm request additional medical documentation, when the opm's decision is unreasonable, your medical retirement claim and the opm's selective picks | Leave a comment »

Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: Making it Contextual

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Imagine if you were asked to go into a large warehouse full of items, boxes, stacks of documents, etc., and your instructions were simply:  Find what is relevant.  You would be lost.  Moreover, you may either spend a great amount of time searching for what is relevant, or not any time at all — for, without contextual significance, doing a lot or doing nothing amounts to the same thing.

That is the perspective that a Claims Representative at the Office of Personnel Management possesses when he or she receives a Federal Disability Retirement application with a voluminous stack of medical records, without guiding contextual instructions.  Indeed, an Applicant’s Statement of Disability is not merely a statement of medical disability and its impact upon one’s medical inability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job; it is, moreover, a guide to the medical records and relevant attachments.

Context and significance must always be the guide.  Never just “dump” a bunch of medical records along with an application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, thinking that the OPM Representative will understand the import and significance of such records.  You may simply receive a correlative response:  a responsive dumping of the application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM | Tagged: a sacred rule in opm disability: submitting documents within context, a well-prepared opm disability case, all elements of a federal disability application must agree with each other, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, care and planning in the preparation of a successful fers disability claim, civil service disability, dangers about a voluminous fers disability package, deciding what medical documentation is relevant to your opm claim, disability retirement at the USPS, document preparation and opm disability law, essential elements of jobs, fers disability and the medical docs that will support your story, FERS medical retirement, how to avoid to oversell a postal disability application, how to list all relevant medical conditions in the opm disability claim, how to prepare a successful opm disability claim, including only relevant information on the fers disability claim, it might be unfair but not relevant for your opm disability claim, nationwide representation of federal employees, opm disability caseworkers, OPM disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, preparing an application for csrs disability retirement, preparing your opm disability retirement packet, relevance over quantity on disability medical documentation, representing federal employees from any us government agency, submitting a coherent and consistent opm disability application, submitting a voluminous amount of medical documentation to the opm, telling the medical story in the applicant's statement of disability, the fers disability application package that ''fits together'', the internal structure of an opm disability application, the opm disability attorney's faculty of seeing all the relevant medical data, the relevant medical information in opm disability, the right approach when preparing a federal disability retirement packet, the ultimate success of a owcp disability claim, USPS disability retirement | 1 Comment »

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  • More on CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement

    • eZineArticles.com Article: The 1 Year Statute of Limitations
    • Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions, and the Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS & CSRS
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Full Arsenal of Weapons
    • FedSmith.com Article: Revisiting "Accommodation"
    • FedSmith.com Article: Sometimes the Process is just as important as the Substance of an Argument
    • Latest PostalReporter.com Article: Causation in a Federal Disability Retirement Case
    • Understanding the Complexities of the Law
    • USPS Disability Blog: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker
  • Other Resources for Federal and Postal Employees

    • Articles Published in the Postal Reporter
    • FAQs on OPM Disability Retirement
    • FERS Disability Attorney Profile at Lawyers.com
    • Main Website on Federal Disability Retirement
    • OPM Disability Blog
    • The Postal Service Disability Retirement Blog
  • Seven False Myths about OPM Disability Retirement

    1) I have to be totally disabled to get Postal or Federal disability retirement.
    False: You are eligible for disability retirement so long as you are unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of your job.  Thus, it is a much lower standard of disability. 

    2) My injury or illness has to be job-related.
    False: You can get disability even if your condition is not work related.  If your medical condition impacts your ability to perform any of the core elements of your job, you are eligible, regardless of how or where your condition occurred.

    3) I have to quit my federal job first to get disability.
    False: In most cases, you can apply while continuing to work at your present job, to the extent you are able.  

    4) I can't get disability if I suffer from a mental or nervous condition.
    False: If your condition affects your job performance, you can still qualify. Psychiatric conditions are treated no differently from physical conditions.

    5) Disability retirement is approved by DOL Workers Comp.
    False: It's the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal agency that administers and approves disability for employees at the US Postal Service or other federal agencies.

    6) I can wait for OPM disability retirement for many years after separation.
    False: You only have one year from the date of separation from service - otherwise, you lose your right forever.

    7) If I get disability retirement, I won't be able to apply for Scheduled Award (SA).
    False: You can get a Scheduled Award under the rules of OWCP even after you get approved for OPM disability retirement.
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