In considering a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, a Federal or Postal employee must ask questions beyond the primacy of obtaining the necessary and proper medical care for treatment of one’s own medical condition. Thus, evidentiary issues must be considered; issues of obtaining proper medical documentation; seeking the active support of a treating doctor, etc. These are all “non-medical” considerations, which have little to do with the actual treatment and care of one’s medical condition, but have everything to do with preparing, formulating, and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS.
There is a distinction between the two (receiving the necessary medical care and preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application), and it is important to recognize the conceptual distinction, because the former can impact the latter. For instance, on the spectrum of medical care (or refusal thereof) which can impact a Federal Disability Retirement application, refusal to undergo “facially reasonable medical treatment” can defeat a Federal Disability Retirement application.
The question, of course, is how to interpret what constitutes “facially reasonable medical care”? There are certain “obvious” ones, and then others which are not so obvious. Normally, the Merit Systems Protection Board has held that refusal to undergo invasive surgery is not a bar to being eligible for Federal Disability Retirement benefits; on the other hand, refusing to take prescribed medications can, and often is, a bar to eligibility. All else fall within the middle of the spectrum of such medical/legal requirements.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues | Tagged: am I supposed to take a dangerous surgery in order to please the owcp?, civil service disability, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, do I have to take a back surgery if workers comp demands it?, eligibility requirements to qualify for postal service disability, feca medical retirement, federal disability attorney, federal employee disability, federal workers comp and refusing risky medical treatment, fers disability blog, FERS disability retirement, filing for fers disability after refusing medical prescriptions, gathering medical documentation for an incapacitated federal employee, getting the proper medical care during the fers disability retirement process, if the postal employee doesn't want to go through a risky surgery, invasive surgery, medical requirements for fers disability, minimally invasive spine surgery, more about the medical requirements needed in your opm disability claim, nationwide representation of federal employees, non-medical considerations during the fers disability process, obtaining the medical care you need during the opm disability process, OPM disability lawyer, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement blog, OPM First Stage Disability Application, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp dept of labor retirement, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, qualifying for federal disability retirement, questions a federal employee should ask about medical retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, rules that govern federal disability retirement, the medical requirements of an opm disability retirement application, what are the medical requirements in a fers disability application?, workers comp: take a risky surgery or lose benefits, your treating doctors | Leave a comment »