Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: The Sound of Tired

Sounds have a distinctive revelatory characteristic; but because ours is primarily a visually-centered society, the other senses are less relied upon, and therefore only secondarily validated in our everyday considerations.

One can see the limping woman; “pain” can be observed by the facial expression of the man; a doctor can validate the correspondence between MRI results and radiating pain sensations, as well as spasms resulting from bending and flexion tests.  But the sound of tired is a more subtle indicator. It defies a quick correspondence between visual ascertainment and objective determination. Instead, it is the profound weight of a man or woman defeated, or on the road to defeat, from conditions beyond one’s control, shrouded between the pitches and reverberations of subcutaneous sound waves touching upon that “other” sense.

Medical conditions have a way of doing that; of slowly, steadily, and in subtle semblance of noiseless shrieks, crumbling away at the walls of resistance.  For Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition begins to prevent one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether one is under FERS or CSRS (and the latter — CSRS — is becoming more and more that rare animal, almost to the point of extinction in the wide and expansive preserve of the Federal retirement system), should always be a consideration when the sound of tired begins to rumble in low groans of daily toil.

It is not just exhaustion; it is a profound sense of fatigue upon the body and soul, where the physical, mental and emotional turmoil of fighting against a tripartite battle involving one’s medical condition, concerns for the future, and against one’s very own agency, comes to a flashpoint where one considers surrender as an option of preference. It is thus important to keep one’s ear sensitive and attuned to the sound of tired, and consider that Federal OPM Disability Retirement is an option to discover that plateau of rehabilitative peace.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Gov. and USPS Disability Retirement: Causes

They can involve actions which result in intended results, or otherwise unintended consequences; or, used in a different way, it may involve a belief or principle, deeply held and fervently committed to, as the impetus and foundation for social or political action.  Focus upon “the cause” can be taken to mean a number of things; as in, “Does it benefit the cause?” or, “What was the cause of X?” Used in the former sense, it can lead to blind loyalty to the detriment of one’s own well-being; in the latter, undue focus upon the origin of X can lead one astray, as well.

For the Federal or Postal employee who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition has impacted one’s ability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job, the issue of “the cause” should be a limited one.

If used in the sense of a principle or deeply-held belief, it can result in an irrational obstacle by pursuing “the cause” as in a need to stay the course, to blindly commit to a false sense of loyalty in order to further the mission of the Federal agency or U.S. Postal Service, at the expense of one’s own health and well-being.

If applied in the more prominent sense of the term — one of causality, fault, origin or resulting-consequences, etc., then it becomes an irrelevant issue. For, unlike Federal Worker’s Comp cases, causality of a medical condition, injury, or medical disability, does not play a role in determining one’s eligibility status in a Federal Disability Retirement application.

For all Federal and Postal Workers, whether one is under FERS or CSRS, preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, must always contend with the former sense of the term, and never the latter.

It is that false sense of being “committed to the cause” which is often the greatest obstacle in considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, and not the inapplicable usage of “cause” as in the origin of one’s medical condition, which remains the pervasive stumbling block for Federal and Postal employees.  For, in the end, it is not merely a matter of a linguistic exercise; it is not just whether a person uses or applies a given word properly in the grammatical sense, which has a lasting impact upon individual lives and greater social orders.

We have spouses to correct us if we misuse a word; but when it comes to having a medical condition impacting our ability to continue on in our chosen vocations, a misuse of a word here and there is an inconsequential blunder; what really matters is to have a true and balanced perspective on the important priorities in our lives.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: Repairs

NASA astronauts train to repair their own complex instruments in space

It is to fix or mend, often applying to inanimate objects in attempting to return it to a state of existence prior to damage or defective manifestation.  We repair cars and upholsteries; lawn mowers are good candidates, and watches and anachronistic clocks of antiquity represent a special and technical requirement of expertise well beyond the facial simplicity of the unspeaking time teller.

It is that inner working of complexity which requires one to surrender a thing of incalculable beauty to a stranger with a mysterious ocular eye piece; like some futuristic member of the Jedi Order whose knowledge of the mechanical turbulences comprised of mainsprings, pendulums, balance wheels and pinions, with a dose of magic sprinkled by the wizard of time, hands trembling over the cauldron of sorcery with mumblings of necromancy and prophetic divinations.  It is the face of the clock or watch which makes its appearance one of beatific simplicity; the ugly inner workings are hidden, covered, concealed by the skin of time and the scales of infinity.

Despite all advances in medicine and medical research, scientists still have a long way to understand the complex human body

Humans are like that.  Though organic in nature, it is perhaps the complexity which is concealed that requires a wizardry beyond mediocrity in order to repair.

The stresses of the world impinging daily in incremental insidiousness, slowly and progressively destroying and gnawing at the internal mechanisms of complex functioning; until, one day, the spring which kept the timepiece accurate, or the pendulum which swayed to and fro in a symphony of monotonous rhythm, snaps suddenly to explode upon the surface of seeming quietude.

In common parlance, we say that he went crazy, or “postal”, or perhaps in more sublime instances of coordinated conspiracies, that a person simply could not take it any more.  Whatever the linguistic characterizations, responsibility for the damage to the time piece is never directly attributed; those who created the hostile work environment dissipate, and the sorcery of responsibility is magically disbursed into a thousand corners of ratholes to where such scoundrels scurry.

For Federal and Postal employees, whether under FERS or CSRS, there is always the option of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in order to escape the inevitable march of time which deteriorates. It is a benefit accorded to all Federal and Postal employees. It is not an escape hatch; it is not a cop-out; it is a necessity for those Federal and Postal workers who have dedicated themselves throughout all of these years, but have come to a point of crisis where one’s medical condition has begun to erupt through the surface of concealment, and has impacted one’s ability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job.

When conventional treatment and medication regimens won’t work for you anymore, perhaps it’s time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits

Just as modern technology and the worldly sophistication of today no longer relies upon the sorcery of incantations over bubbling cauldrons of mysterious but sweet-smelling ingredients, so it is often the failings of our own predilections of behavior which prevent us from moving forward towards that which is best for us. And like the time piece which needs the ocular eye managed by a futuristic Order of the Jedi, so the Federal or Postal employee needing Federal Disability Retirement may require the expertise of the appropriate counsel of choice.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: The Fallacy of Incremental Procrastination

It will be just another week; or perhaps a month; by the end of six weeks, it will all be resolved.  But the insidious nature of incrementalism is precisely in the cumulative loss from a retrospective viewpoint.  Time comes in ticking seconds; ticking seconds accumulate into a bundle of minutes; and bundles become stacked into hours, days, months — and years.

Waiting on a decision by the Department of Labor for OWCP benefits may be a perfectly acceptable route to take; but then, there are horror stories of delays in approving a simple MRI, leaving aside expectations for getting an approval for a needed surgery or other lesser medical procedure.

While hope may be in things sought for but yet unseen, it is the cumulative nature of time lost which, from a retrospective view, reveals the insidious fallacy of incremental procrastination.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, concurrently with filing for OWCP benefits is often a good idea, precisely because it requires a lengthy administrative process to undergo.  If both are approved, then one must opt for one or the other.  If only one is approved, then the other can be fought for while accepting the benefit of the approved one.

Time is a valuable commodity in any endeavor; for Federal and Postal Workers who seek Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, time management and the recognition of the fallacy of incremental procrastination is an important step in beginning the process.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Stages & Particulars of a Case

One must be able to make distinctions, to bifurcate and recognize where one is at, in order to determine the course and direction of where one is going.  A writer once said that a captain who moors a ship in a harbor must know three (3) things before raising the anchor:  where it has come from; why it is here; and where it is going.  Simple enough.

The point of the simplicity, of course, is the plan of action which the three statements represent.  In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the parallel three directional statements might be:  Does one have a supportive doctor; does the medical condition impact the ability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job; can one sufficiently prove one’s case?

A little bit more complex.  But the point is, whether in simple form or of greater complexity, it is important to know and recognize both the “larger” picture as well as the smaller one; of identifying at what stage in a process one is at, while at the same time realizing the unique and particular facts of one’s own situation, within that larger stage.

Having a purposive direction can often be difficult when one’s focus is upon trying to get better, when one’s medical conditions impact the very cognitive clarity one needs in order to proceed in that purposive manner.  Such a recognition itself — that one may need some help in a complex world — may be the greatest seed of wisdom.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Inconsistencies and the Perfect Case

Perhaps there will never be the “perfect” case in a FERS Disability Retirement application, and one should not expect to find one.  There are “near-perfections” and ones which cannot possibly be denied by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  But it is the imperfect ones — the ones which might be consider tenuous at best, but which are nevertheless approved, which provide greater lessons in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Further, denial letters issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management are instructive for future events and cases, precisely because they indicate the focus, in any particular context or time, of the central and essential concerns expressed by OPM.  Inconsistencies are often what is reviewed and scrutinized most closely — between what the doctor asserts in conclusory fashion, in a medical narrative report, as opposed to the daily office and treatment notes; between one’s statement of disability and what the Supervisor observes; between what the applicant for Federal Disability Retirement benefits states, and what the doctor annotates.

Granted, much of it is selectively chosen with a biased and slanted perspective — as if the Caseworker at OPM had already decided to issue a denial.  Further, OPM makes unfounded assertions concerning the applicable standard of law all the time, which undermines the very basis of any denial, and puts into question the credibility of the reasons given in a denial letter.

Ultimately, there is no such thing as the “perfect” case; as life provides for inconsistencies and lack of continuum, so a Federal Disability Retirement application often reflects the imperfection of life.  Unfortunately, OPM doesn’t have such a philosophical outlook on such matters, and we must deal with it accordingly.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire