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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 »

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Use of Medical Reports

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

People often ask me whether or not a certain type of medical report should or should not be used.  As with almost all such questions, the answer is, “It depends”.  On what?  On the content; in the manner it is written; and by whom.

This latter basis is often a determinative one.  For instance, should a medical report from a Chiropractor be used in an CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement case?  Let me answer this question in a circuitous manner — I handled an MSPB case years ago where I had no “medical” doctors testify, but I had two chiropractors testify (I needed both of them, not because two makes better than one, but merely because they treated my client in sequence over the relevant period of time).  To the great consternation of the OPM representative, we won the case.

Thus, chiropractors can provide valid medical opinions, and the MSPB has accepted the testimony of chiropractors — as well as therapists — standing alone, without the primary support of a medical doctor.  However, my customary approach in the utilization of therapists and chiropractors, as well as physicians’ assistants, nurses, etc., is that they are most effective as secondary support to a primary medical narrative from a medical doctor.

This will often present an interesting conundrum in that, often, chiropractors and therapists will write the more detailed, substantive, and interesting report than the medical doctor.  That is okay.  To use such reports as a piggy-back upon the short, concise and straightforward medical report is often the best way to use such valuable resources.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) | Tagged: arthritis fers disability retirement, attorney for US government employees, avoiding independent or occupational medicine doctors, chiropractor, disability retirement fers, disability retirement from the USPS, disabling diagnosis information on narrative report, doctors report federal disability, doctors to testify in your federal disability case, documentation for medical retirement, federal civilian workers compensation office doctors help, federal employee disability claims and therapist's reports, federal employee medical retirement, federal employee turning over medical evidence to the opm, federal workplace injury, importance of the narrative report on opm disability, importance of your doctor's testimony during MSPB hearing, injured federal workers attorney, legal representation for injured federal workers, letter from doctor to claim federal disability retirement, medical compensation for federal and postal workers, Medical Documentation for OPM Disability Retirement, medical documentation from the chiropractor's office, medical documentation guidelines, medical evidence from other health care specialists, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, neurologists narrative for FERS CSRS disability claim, opm csrs retirement, opm disability and physicians statements, opm disability law firm, OPM disability retirement for DEA employees, opm owcp, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp disability retirement really is usually meant "opm disability retirement", owcp medical retirement, physician testimony during the opm disability process, physicians' assistants and federal disability retirement, postal employee needs help with workers comp, postal service disability retirement, postal worker's injury, progressive debilitating condition of postal worker, qualified impairment for opm disability retirement, quality versus quantity on medical documentation, recurrence of owcp condition, relevance over quantity on disability medical documentation, statements from nurses in federal disability compensation cases, support to a physician's medical narrative, types of medical reports used for fers disability, USPS Disability, usps limited duty jobs, usps lwop, usps work injury benefits, what documents should I turn over opm for my disability claim?, writing a narrative report for federal employee patients | 1 Comment »

  • 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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