FERS Medical Retirements: Future Uncertainties

Human beings love certainties; but in this cold and objective, dispassionate world, such certainties can rarely be relied upon.

Hume’s causation argument undermined any attempt to establish repetition as a basis for future events, precisely because X occurring the thousandth time gives us no concrete evidence that the next time will result in any causal reliability.

Probability theory aside, as Hume argued, there is missing any “necessary connection” which would establish a predictable nexus to extrapolate future reliability based upon prior life events.  Without that necessary connection, causal certainty can never be ascertained.— or so his argument goes.

Yet, we continue to rely upon future certainties regardless of such “conceptual proofs” to the contrary, for, what other choice do we have?  We cannot wander throughout our lives  without reliance upon some semblance of causal expectation, otherwise, we would be like newborn infants every day with no sense of security or stability.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers under FERS who suffer from an illness or injury which impacts their future certainty in their Federal or postal career, a large stumbling block is the uncertainty of being approved for a future medical retirement application.

Although there can never be a causal guarantee when it involves the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, you can increase the probability of a successful outcome if you are adequately represented by an experienced attorney.

Citing the proper and relevant case laws and formulating the most effective legal arguments will increase the probability for future success.  To that end, applying to OPM does not need to seem like reinventing the proverbial wheel every time, or like being that lost child wandering in the woods without any sense of security.

Contact a FERS Lawyer experienced in Federal Disability Law, and increase your chance for a more certain future, despite what Hume says.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Experienced lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their FERS Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The Music of Yesterday

There is a mournfulness in listening to yesterday’s music; of evocative memories and places we have been, the person we once were, the relationships previously haunted.

The clutter of a busy life barely allows room for music to be appreciated.  To have the patience for classical music requires time, which we no longer have; for other kinds of music, the dashing about to get stuff done allows only for the radio’s capture of time, and that, only if you leave your thoughts behind.

One is often struck by the innocence of the lyrics of past music; and while commercialism has determined the relevance of the music of yesterday, nevertheless, it is fun to sometimes listen to the actual lyrics of a couple of generations ago, and pause to appreciate how depraved we have become when compared to the explicit language of today.  The music of yesterday, if listened to, reminds us that the past was a different time than modernity.

Likewise, those with chronic medical conditions are reminded that bad health was not always the case, and the music of yesterday stands as a metaphor and testament that we were all once young, healthy and vibrant.  What changed?  Just as the quality of music changed, so our lives have changed.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal employees who need to consider applying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under the FERS system, the music of yesterday necessarily reminds us of that period of yesteryear when health was taken for granted.

Contact a FERS Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement under FERS, and consider whether the Music of Yesterday might not be appreciated with greater vigor once you can focus upon your health, when you can retire on disability retirement and take the time to regain that which has been temporarily lost.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Medical Disability Retirement: Health at What Price

Everything has a price to pay — whether in terms of monetary value, or by some other quantification, by terms of labor, effort expended, a return of some negligible cost, etc.  In a capitalistic society, we tend to think always in terms of bartered values — is doing X “worthwhile”?  Does buying Y give me the best value for the money expended?

Then, there are times when no amount of money can “make up” for the experience or phenomena, as in precious moments with your kids, the expensive but “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to Rome; or even to a restaurant to celebrate an event.

In this country, where money determines status, accessibility and opportunity to an exponential degree, the language of price, value and bartering of commodities is diffusely peppered throughout our cognitive dictionaries.  Does everything have a price?  Can anything be bought, bartered and traded for?  Can you put a pice on your health?

For Federal employees and Postal Workers who suffer from a illness or disability such that this particular illness or disability prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the basic elements of one’s Federal job, the issue of health — the deterioration, the chronic and progressive symptoms involved — is often tied closely to whether continuing to work at the Federal or Postal job further exacerbates the decline of your health.

When that point comes — of that critical juncture where continuation in the job adds to the decline of your health — then it is time to ask the question, My health at what price?

And when you arrive at that critical juncture, then it is time to consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider that important question, Health at What Price?

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Disability Retirement Law: The Stories We Carry

How we allow our thoughts to narrate the inner voices we carry, matters in how we see ourselves.  The proper stories we tell ourselves; what words we choose when describing an incident we were involved in; even the tone of the voices heard within the inner, insular world of our own thoughts — they are important in formulating who we are, what we believe, and what the future holds for us.  The correspondence theory of language is now an antiquated, outdated theory of language.

When Bertrand Russell stated with a mischievous smile that the “ present King of France is bald” — he knew at the outset that there was no “present King of France” and, moreover, that “baldness” cannot be attributed to a non-existent royal entity; and yet, we fully comprehend the statement.  By comprehension, we admit to its meaningfulness, and even its coherence.

But how can a nonsensical statement having both meaning and coherence?  That is the point — that meaning and coherence have nothing to do, necessarily, with existence in the objective universe.  Then, one might query, what is so important about the stories we carry within our heads if they have no correspondence to the objective world?  Not only is it important, but moreover, it is significant; for, in the end, the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, which we carry within ourselves, provide the inner psyche to possess the confidence and strength to maneuver through the world we must occupy for the limited time we have in this world.

For Federal employees and US. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from continuing in his or her career, you need to contact a Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer and quit beating yourself to death about failures, inadequacies and debilitating incompetencies that your Federal Agency has come to make you believe.

Contact a lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin the process of moving forward and beyond, so that the stories you carry will keep you growing into the next decade — and beyond.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Medical Retirement: Those Dog Days of Summer

Extremes desire the opposite extremes; and so these winter days of short sunlight, cold and unending spells where the chill cannot be gotten rid of no matter how high you turn up the thermostat — they wish for the other extreme, those dog days of summer.

July to August is the traditional period referred to as the Dog Days of Summer, of a starry constellation where hot temperatures force dogs and other animals to simply lay down and remain motionless in order to keep cool.  It forces the other extremes: Motion versus immobility; abundance verses lack; health versus?

Life is too often a contrast in extremes; one day, you are healthy and active; the next, debilitated and unable to move.  Or, is that just the fear?

The reality is more often a slow and progressive deterioration; the extreme is that, despite our failing health, we continue to push on in order to extend our careers.  The “extreme” is often our response to our circumstances, which then further exacerbates the problem.  Yes, we now may wish for the dog days of summer, but what would be best is the interlude of a Spring moderation.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition no longer allows for continuation in one’s job or career, don’t wait for the next extreme — those Dog Days of Summer — but, rather, contact a FERS lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits and see whether the Spring of a next phase might not be the better season of action and satisfaction.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The Inevitable Constancy of Change

Change is a constant.  If you have lived long enough, the slow and incremental changes all around us — in the political sphere; employment; personal lives; the inevitability becomes palpable, and sometimes of concern.

Seasons change (unless, perhaps, you are in Florida); but the cyclical rhythm of returning to warmth after a long spell of Winter’s dread is a welcomed change.  When change becomes a forethought to dread, there is an inkling that something is wrong.

There are obviously changes for the good: Of new friends or family members (excepting the visiting uncle who arrives unannounced and expects to stay for a few weeks which turns into months); a child or a grandchild; of newfound wealth; of good luck suddenly encountered, etc.  Then, of course, the changes which undermine and impact with negative results: Loss of any kind; a sudden death; a medical condition.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition as a result of the inevitable constancy of change, contact a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider whether or not the change to becoming a retiree might not be the best response to the change resulting from a medical condition.

For, if change is an inevitable constancy, why not turn the bad into a good, and render unto the inevitability the rhythmic cycle of a season yet to be, of a greater preference than the static state of now?

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill,
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Day We Realized…

So much can follow the ellipsis; The day we realized we were not the most brilliant; that there are others who are smarter, better looking, more physically adept, more talented; that even given the half-century or so of time that we have been allotted on this earth, we will never become wealthy; that we aren’t any good at X, Y or Z; that our children are not the best-behaved little angels we once thought they were; and so much more.

Some such realizations are significant; others, with a shrug and a wink, we should just let pass.  For, of course there are others more talented; of course, most of us will never become wealthy; of course, most children are brats (but we can love them despite such realizations); and of course, there are others who are smarter and more attractive.

But then, there are those realizations which are of impactful consequences — such as when a Federal or Postal employee realizes that he or she has a medical condition which prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of the positional duties slotted.

On that day of realization, another such realization should follow:  Contact and consult with a retirement attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest a further realization occur:  That you were unaware of certain laws which can defeat a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Theme

Every story has a theme.  It is the topic, the “subject”, or just an idea — that recurs throughout the narrative.  For David Copperfield, perhaps it was the constant struggle between ignorance and knowledge; for Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, maybe the phoniness of the life we lead in contrast to the author’s personally horrific experiences during WWII.

Every person’s life has a them; most of us, unfortunately, fail to recognize it, and it is this very failure which often leads to the repeated mistakes made throughout.

The story of one’s Federal Disability Retirement application should have a theme — one which is woven throughout one’s narrative in a Federal Disability Retirement application, especially in the Applicant’s Statement of Disability as delineated on SF 3112A.  Beset with dealing with the medical issues themselves, the Federal or Postal worker will often fail to recognize the theme — perhaps it is one of constant struggle for the past year; or, the progressive deteriorating as reflected in the medical notations here and there.

Whatever the theme of one’s story, a FERS expert in Federal Disability Retirement Law will be able to squeeze from the quietude of one’s story, the theme which overrides and pervades throughout.  Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin to formulate your theme which will persuade OPM of the validity, poignancy and necessity of your Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement for U.S. Government Employees: Now, What?

The question or declarative can be stated in two ways — As a query for the next steps, or as an expression of exasperation directed towards a frustration of multiple things gone wrong.  Or of a third: A combination of both frustration and an effort to understand what the next steps are.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the declarative query, “Now, what?” is often heard throughout the process of suffering from the medical condition itself, as well as during the process of preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

The medical condition itself can lead to further complications, and thus the expression as stated; the Agency’s response of callous disregard can be the basis for the exasperation stated; the complexity of the administrative process of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits can also be the origin and cause of frustration.  To minimize the trauma of the entire process, consult with an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Employee Disability Retirement Law so that the next time you need to express the sentiment, “Now, what?” — you can do so by picking up the telephone and calling your attorney.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OWCP & FERS Disability Retirement for Federal and Postal Employees

Can both be approved concurrently?  Is there any disadvantage in filing for one “as opposed” to another?  Do they “cross over” and impact one another?  Can you receive payments concurrently, or must you choose one over the other and, if one is chosen, does it “negate” or otherwise dismiss the other?

These are all practical questions which can come about if an injury or illness results from a workplace incident or caused by an occupational hazard.  First and foremost, it should be noted that the two “pockets” of compensatory resources are different in nature: OWCP is not a retirement system; OPM Disability Retirement is. OWCP is a compensatory resource created and established as a temporary measure (although there are many, many cases where an OWCP recipient stays on and receives compensation for decades and beyond) — as a means of allowing the Federal worker to receive treatment, recuperation and rehabilitation, with a view towards an eventual return to work.

The paradigm of a FERS Federal Disability Retirement, on the other hand, is just that: It is a retirement system — essentially, starting your retirement “early” because of a medical condition or injury resulting in one’s loss of capacity to continue to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job.  The latter (FERS Disability Retirement) does not have to possess any causal connection to the employment itself — in other words, the medical condition or injury does not have to be “occupationally related” in order for a Federal or Postal worker to become eligible for its benefits.

Remember, however, that under a FERS Disability Retirement, a Federal or Postal worker must file for the benefit of Federal Disability Retirement within one (1) year of being separated from one’s Federal Agency or the Postal Service.  The fact that a person has been “placed on the rolls of OWCP” does not excuse the 1-year rule for filing a Federal Disability Retirement application.

For further information on the intersection between OWCP and FERS Disability Retirement, you should consult with an experienced attorney who is knowledgeable about both, and make your decision upon factual and legal information, and not from such sources as, “I heard from Joe that…”

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire