CSRS & FERS Medical Disability Retirement: Sand Castles

Walking the beach in the winter months, one can imagine the activity of the previous summer; of the gaiety of childhood mirth; laughing squeals of delightfully unrehearsed cacophony mixed with the rolling sounds of surf and sun swept music of hollow reeds bending in the dunes of nature’s creation; and of sand castles constructed for a day, only to disappear in the silence of night as the tide comes, toppling the singular turret and washing over the parapet walk, never to be inhabited again but for a future summer to come.

It is those very sand castles which we build, and to which we cling, then refuse to allow nature to sweep away, thinking somehow that through sheer human will and dominance of stubbornness, we can betray and defy the fragile nature of our being.  Clinging to bygone feelings of security and warmth is a characteristic of human folly.  We do it to our own detriment.

For Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents one from performing the essential elements of one’s job, there comes a point of “letting go”.  Often, the time to do so has passed by; but so long as one is within the legal, statutory timeframe, it is never too late as a practical matter to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  Whether under FERS or CSRS, a Federal Disability Retirement application is ultimately filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

For many Federal and Postal Workers, the recognition of making “that dreaded change” is a difficult decision to make; and like sand castles built for eternity in a child’s mind, the reality is that very few things in life last longer than the pull and tug of the tides of change which inevitably wash away the dreams we once held.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGil, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement: The Cost of a Veil

Veils are meant to conceal, either in part or in full; and the color of such concealment is of significance to indicate the state of sacrament or ceremony.  Apart from religious significance and communicated traditions, however, most veils themselves are neither visible nor apparent, but rather silently form a conspiracy of covering up and setting aside, like backyard refuse and debris in the corner shed or behind the closed door of a garage.

Physical pain can be veiled; aside from an involuntary twitch or wince which might provoke the onlooker to make a query, or a sudden gait dysfunction which, no matter how hard one tries to correct, forces the stiffening of one’s limbs or spinal column.

Psychiatric conditions may be more difficult to conceal; from explosive emotional turmoils rendered by Bipolar Disorder, to the uncontrollable lethargy impacted by Major Depression; to the paralyzing effects of a panic attack or Generalized Anxiety Disorder; the human psyche is often the first to reveal itself as the gateway to a malignancy.

But beyond the human capacity to conceal and place a veil upon one’s life, what is the cost of such concealment?  It is the further downward spiral; and, perhaps one’s employing agency never notices the invisible veil, and grants superior performance reviews; but through it all, at the severe and irreparable cost to one’s health.

For the Federal and Postal employee who lives and works with the constant veil of fear in being exposed with a medical condition which prevents one from performing all of the essential elements of one’s job, Federal Disability Retirement through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is an option which should be seriously considered.  Whether you are under FERS or CSRS, the base annuity will allow the Federal and Postal employee to lift the veil and proceed forward with one’s future, perhaps into a second, alternative vocation.

And as a final note:  there is in most cultures a great significance in the human act of lifting one’s veil — to reveal that which is beneath, and to come out from behind the concealment.  It is often a sacramental act, and one which allows for revelatory exposure, out from under the darkness and into the full light.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Early Retirement for Disabled Federal Workers: OPM & History of Medical Conditions

There is a distinction to be made between one’s medical history and an extensive discussion of workplace issues which may have contributed to a causal impetus for a medical condition.  

The Office of Personnel Management is rarely interested in receiving information concerning the history or causation of a medical condition — especially from the Applicant in a Federal Disability Retirement application.  While the treating doctor may briefly refer to the historical genesis of a medical condition in a narrative report, it is the focus of the present-to-recent-past impact of one’s medical conditions upon the essential elements of one’s job which the Office of Personnel Management is interested in reviewing.

Again, remember that a Federal Disability Retirement application is a “paper presentation” to an onerous, overbearing and overworked Federal bureaucracy, where one’s private affairs (the most private of all — one’s medical conditions and their impact upon one’s personal and professional conduct of affairs) are to be presented, received, and ultimately reviewed.  

History of the inception, origin and impact of a medical condition may be peripherally relevant to the treating doctor, and it would be appropriate to include such historical background in a medical report; but for the Applicant, to delve too deeply and extensively upon such historical context may place the peripheral into a central focus where it should not be.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire