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OPM Disability Retirement

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    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
    • Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions (44)
    • Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM (44)
    • Burden of Proof (30)
    • Clarifications of Laws or Rules (161)
    • CSRS Disability (1)
    • Eligibility Criteria (18)
    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (18)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (78)
    • Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted (35)
    • FERS Disability (10)
    • Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time (49)
    • Life after Federal Disability Retirement (21)
    • LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability (12)
    • Mental/Nervous Condition (49)
    • Miscellaneous (177)
    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
    • OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits (40)
    • OPM Disability & VA Benefits (4)
    • OPM Disability Actors (288)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
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      • OPM Disability Actors – The Attorney (55)
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      • OPM Disability Actors – The MSPB Administrative Judge (6)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The OPM Representatives (31)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Others (9)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Supervisor (13)
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      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package (29)
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      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS (15)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112D Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts for CSRS and FERS (7)
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      • OPM Disability Process – 4th Stage: Petition for Full Review at the MSPB (4)
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    • Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems or Other Reasons (34)
    • SF 3112 Forms (11)
    • Specific Medical Conditions (29)
    • The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney (80)
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    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
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    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

OPM Disability Retirement: Reconsideration Decisions

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Types of reconsideration decisions denying an applicant his or her Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS can and do span the entire spectrum, depending upon the OPM representative who writes up the decision:  from half a page (barely giving a passing, respectful review to a packet which took multiple hours to put together) to over 3 pages long (in the “Discussion Section”); from merely listing general principles of law and generalized, template-like denials to apparent detailed (but very selective) references to various medical reports submitted by the applicant as part of the disability retirement packet — they all boil down to the same thing:  a denial at the initial application stage.

Often, an initial reaction to the denial encompasses a myriad of responses, ranging from incredulity, to resignation, to anger, to indignation.  Set aside the emotionalism.  Further, there is often the reaction to that “one piece” of medical information which the applicant believes should have turned that “denial” into an “approval” — that “one piece” of medical note, statement, sentence, or paragraph which the OPM representative conveniently disregarded or chose not to reference.  Don’t ruminate over it.  It may well be that it was deliberately disregarded; it may even have been overlooked.  More than likely, the OPM representative was fully aware of it, but decided to selectively choose his or her basis as the more “important” and “substantive” evidence, forming the core rationale of the denial.  Don’t waste time.  More work is needed — both medical as well as legal.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM, OPM Disability Actors - The OPM Representatives, OPM Disability Process - 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage, When the OPM Application Is Denied | Tagged: a rational response to an unreasonable letter of denial opm benefits, An employee appealing OPM's denial, attorney to help a usps employee get opm disability, before you write your reconsideration argument to the opm, bring up csrs federal disability retirement, controlling anger and disappointment after opm disability denial, deficiencies of an OPM disability denial, disability retirement benefits under fers, discussion section in the opm denial letter, examining the basis for the denial, federal employee disability benefits, federal employee medical retirement, federal employee's indignation after denial of medical disability, federal medical retirement FERS disability, federal workers winning disability benefits even after first denial, FERS disability retirement, fers disability retirement law firm, FERS medical retirement, Filing the Request for Reconsideration after first OPM denial, help for rural carriers seeking disability retirement, illogical reasons used by the opm to deny fers disability retirement, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, misstatements as basis for denial, nationwide representation of federal employees, non industrial disability for federal employees, opm decision denying disability benefits, opm denial letter templates and the essence of the denial, opm disability cases, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement representation in utah, OPM Disability Specialist, OPM Reconsideration Stage, OPM Representative, OPM's methodology, postal disability for supervisors, Postal Service disability, representing federal employees from any us government agency, representing federal employees in and outside the country, reversing the course of an opm disability denial, setting aside emotionalism after the opm denial of disability benefits, the dreaded denial letter, the federal disability denial letter and the federal employee's reactions, the first opm denial of federal employee medical retirement, the medical condition in fers disability retirement, the opm representative's first-level decision-making process, types of opm disability denial letters, USPS disability retirement, usps medical retirement, washington dc fers disability retirement, when the opm denial for disability letter is just another opm template, when the opm misuses the medical information you submitted, working around an OPM application for disability denial | Leave a 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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