Federal Disability Retirement: Taking Advantage of the Long Wait

Preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS should not be viewed as a singular event with a distinct and bifurcating cut-off date, where once the medical documentation has been filed with the Office of Personnel Management, it is merely a long process of inactivity in waiting.  

The circumstances at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management have obviously changed.  A few years ago, the expected “wait-time” once a CSA number was assigned to a case, was approximately 60 – 90 days.  That period of waiting has now been extended, and extended considerably, for reasons which the Office of Personnel Management have cited as a “backlog of cases”.  

Because of those changed circumstances, it is wise to take advantage of the wait period by recognizing and bringing together various elements of a Federal Disability Retirement case:  since one’s medical condition must last a minimum of 12 months, and because the waiting time with OPM has been extended, it is probably a good idea to continue to “supplement” the medical records with the Office of Personnel Management, by forwarding, faxing, mailing, etc., any updated medical records, treatment notes, office notes, surgical operative notes; clinical examination records; any functional capacity evaluations, etc.  

Any medical notations which show the continuing care, treatment and inability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, will only reinforce and strengthen the argument that (A) one has a medical condition such that one cannot perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, and (2) that as a continuing medical condition, it is not only lasting a minimum of 12 months, but is factually a chronic and continuing medical condition.

 Take advantage of the longer wait period, by actively engaging in the management of one’s Federal Disability Retirement application.  

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Worker Disability Retirement: Creating a Meaningful Bridge

In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, it is obviously important to construct an effective bridge, or nexus, between one’s identified medical conditions and the type of positional duties which one performs at the Federal Agency or the U.S. Postal Service.  

In doing so, one should keep in mind certain essential points, each from the perspective of the Office of Personnel Management (which is the agency which will determine whether the Federal or Postal employee/applicant’s Federal Disability Retirement application will be approved or denied).  

For instance, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will only consider those medical conditions which are identified in the Applicant’s Statement of Disability (SF 3112A).  Once a CSA Number (an administrative identifier which is assigned by OPM — an eight-digit number beginning with “4” for CSRS employees and ending with a “0”; and for FERS employees, beginning with an “8” and ending with a “0”) is assigned to an application, the Federal or Postal employee is no longer able to add any further medical conditions without withdrawing the application completely, and re-submitting it anew.

Further, while the Office of Personnel Management will consider specific duties and descriptions of duties which are delineated and expanded upon in the narrative portion of SF 3112A, it is the “official” position description which will ultimately be controlling. Thus, a logical variance from the official position description as to what a Federal or Postal employee does, will not make any difference.  However, if what the Federal or Postal employee states that he or she is doing, is completely at odds with what the positional description states that he or she should be doing, then the controlling default will be the official position description.  

It is wise to keep these two perspectives in mind, in creating an effective bridge for a Federal Disability Retirement application.  For, ultimately, it is the perspective from the “other side” which matters, and as such, OPM’s perspective of how a Federal Disability Retirement application is reviewed and considered, is an important aspect in preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Post Submissions

In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, the best of all worlds would be for the diverse and scattered elements of information which must be compiled, gathered and compacted for a completed OPM Disability Retirement packet, to be accomplished as a unified whole within a single state of time and being.  

But doctor’s reports are prepared based upon the time, schedule and availability of each medical provider; and other documentary evidence may not be obtained or available within a reasonable timeframe of each other.  As such, submitting some of the medical evidence after the packet has been sent to the Office of Personnel Management, is perfectly acceptable, with certain caveats:  Since a Federal Disability Retirement application cannot be altered or amended to “add” any medical conditions once a CSA number has been assigned to a case, it is important to include any and all medical conditions which form the basis of post-submissions.  

While legal arguments which were not previously part of the original OPM Disability Retirement packet can be supplemented, amended and added, the Federal or Postal employee who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits cannot add any new medical conditions which were previously formulated on the Applicant’s Statement of Disability (SF 3112A).  Thus, any additional medical narratives, reports or diagnostic tests submitted after the assignment by the Office of Personnel Management of a CSA Number, cannot reflect a “new” and previously undisclosed medical condition.

Post submissions are perfectly acceptable, but they must reflect medical conditions which have already been identified.  As always, preparation is the key to success, and properly preparing, formulating and filing an OPM Disability Retirement application must necessarily include anticipating the medical conditions which might be discussed in any submission presented after the fact.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire