OPM Disability Retirement: The Right Time

For each Federal and Postal employee, there is a “right” time to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS.  By “right time”, I do not mean as to the proper timing in the actual filing of a Federal Disability Retirement case — i.e., whether it should be before or after separation from service, whether at the end of the year, the beginning of the year, etc.  No, by “right” time, I refer to the time when a Federal or Postal employee — that person who has put in all of those many years of loyal service, managed through pain, discomfort, overwhelming stresses, anxieties, fears, chronic and intractable pain, etc. — comes to the conclusion that he or she cannot continue in this mode of existence anymore.  Whether or not a Federal Disability Retirement case is filed with an agency or at the Office of Personnel Management in one month as opposed to another, is ultimately not of great importance; whether a person who is suffering from a medical condition for months, or years, and has been adept at hiding the daily pain and suffering — whether that person has come to a decision that it is now the “right time” to file for disability retirement, makes all the difference.  Each person must find that right time.  “How” and “when” are the two questions which must be answered, and only the Federal or Postal employee who is contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS can answer such questions.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Merit Systems Protection Board: Hearings Are Not Inevitable

The third step in the process of filing and obtaining disability retirement from the Office of Personnel Management is to appeal the case to the Merit Systems Protection Board. This is initiated after a disability retirement application has been denied twice: First, at the initial stage, then, upon a request for reconsideration and an opportunity to submit additional medical and other documentation, if the Office of Personnel Management denies the application a second time, then the Applicant has the right to file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Such a case is then set to be heard by an Administrative Judge, and mandated to be completed within 120 days from the time it is appealed. Many applicants who go into this third stage have the unwarranted belief that a Hearing is an inevitability, and that there is no further opportunity to convince OPM to reverse themselves, or change their minds. That is simply not the case. Often, the OPM representative at the MSPB level is much more attuned to the evidentiary level required, and will entertain the receipt and review of an updated medical report, or additional diagnostic tests, or more detailed treatment notes, etc. The mere fact that OPM denied the application at the first two stages, and the fact that the jurisdictional landscape has now changed from OPM to the MSPB, does not mean that OPM’s mind cannot be changed. The key is to listen carefully at what OPM’s representative is saying at a Prehearing Conference, or even earlier if contact is made with him/her. By listening and complying with a reasonable request, it can save the applicant needless time and expenses (for the testimony of a doctor can, indeed, be expensive), and have the ultimate outcome that the applicant desires: approval of a disability retirement application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Physician’s Statement, SF 3112C, for FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement

Instead of signing the SF 3112C (Physician’s Statement), in representing my clients to obtain disability retirement, I write a 4 – 5 page letter directly to the client’s treating physicians to obtain a current medical report. Generally speaking, I advise my clients not to sign the SF 3112C, because it is essentially a general release of medical information which releases any and all medical records to the Agency’s Human Resources designee.

There is no reason to release all of your medical information — especially such information which is private, which is irrelevant to the medical disabilities which are specifically described and identified as the basis of your disability retirement application in your applicant’s statement of disability, and which do not impact your ability or inability to perform you job. Indeed, while the Agency will often insist upon the signature of the 3112C as being “required”, this is simply not true: Look at SF 3112E(8)(d) (Disability Retirement Application Checklist), which states: “SF 3112C, Physician’s Statement (or equivalent).” This shows that signature of the SF 3112C is not required — if you go out and obtain the medical records and reports yourself, and file the supporting medical documentation, then such documentation constitutes its “equivalent”.

It is my job, in representing a client to obtain disability retirement benefits, to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that my client is entitled to disability retirement benefits. It is not my job to release and and all private medical documentation to the Office of Personnel Management — only such documentation as will prove my case. As such, it is important to know what is required, and what is not.

Sincerely, Robert R. McGill, Attorney specializing in disability retirement cases for Federal and Postal employees