Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: The Identical Scene

People tend to watch things over and over again which they consider to be their “favorites” — until the repetition itself becomes monotonous through overexposure.  We can all ruin a good thing, can’t we?

We can admire an actor, novelist or some so-called “star” — until we read and learn about their personal lives and realize that appearance doesn’t quite match reality.  We can have a favorite scene in a movie or television show and watch it repeatedly — until the uniqueness of it wears thin and we begin to see beyond the wonder by which we were first captivated.

That “identical scene” is something we live in real life, as well — of getting up, taking care of our personal hygiene, commuting to work (except during these recent, pandemic times), seeing the identical scene of working, day after day — until an intervening event disrupts that identical scene, such as a medical condition.

When a medical condition disrupts our lives, those identical scenes become hyper-enhanced to the point where each day is no longer monotonous nor identical, but instead, each scene is a unique frame because of the medical condition itself.  That once “identical scene” no longer becomes a favorite one, precisely because of the medical condition itself.

At that point, you need to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider whether the identical scene you once enjoyed has now become the dreaded scene of real life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement Help: OPM’s Medical Specialists

OPM — the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — has “Medical Specialists” from the “Boyers Division” to review, evaluate, assess and ultimately make decisions upon each Federal Disability Retirement application submitted by Federal and Postal employees under FERS.

Now, there is no doubt that they possess unique medical knowledge — to whatever degree that they hold, from whatever perspective they come from, and the context of their applying such knowledge and background, etc.  But they are not lawyers.

Doctors and nurses have a specific perspective in viewing the world, just as lawyers and engineers, also, have a unique perspective. Their background and expertise is like a colored lens through which the world is seen.

Federal Disability Retirement is not just about a medical condition; it is, instead, the nexus between the medical condition and one’s ability/inability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, within the context of a continuously-growing body of law.  That is why OPM’s Medical Specialists are often wrong in their conclusions in making a determination on a Federal Disability Retirement application.

If you need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, or have been denied such benefits from OPM, contact a FERS Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law; for, in the end, it is not up to OPM’s Medical Specialists to make the final conclusion on a Federal Disability Retirement application — rather, it is The Law.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Federal Disability Attorney

 

Early Medical Retirement under FERS: Acceptability

At what point does it NOT become so?  Whether in marriage; in a job or career (is there such a distinction, these days?); or of life in general.  Is it the point where stress meets up with one’s desire and hope for a pictured future?  Does acceptability vary — is it different depending upon social class, background, level of education or even of cultural heritage?  Or, as with so many things — is knowledge or ignorance (the corollary between the two) what determines acceptability?

In other words, if a person has only known a certain X-standard of living, and has never been exposed to Y-standard of conditions, is it the lack of knowledge which accounts for acceptability of living conditions, or can we be content despite possessing such knowledge?

Unrest in modernity around the universe is often attributed by sociologists as indicated by the level of the shrinking globe — that, through the Internet, people everywhere are aware of everything, including the unacceptability of their own circumstances, and thus resulting in a universal sense of unease and unrest.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal positional duties, the level of acceptability is often when the juncture between pain and illness, and the tolerance for such where “living life” is barely bearable, meet and collide.

Consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, and consult with an OPM Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement, less acceptability turns into a morose sense of despair where even the weekends are barely tolerable.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Fight

Not everyone relishes one.  Yet, the challenge comes about often when we do not expect it, when our proverbial defenses are down and we cannot muster the energy to properly engage it.  For children on the rough-and-tumble playgrounds, it can be over in a matter of minutes, where a few black eyes, a scrape and a bruise may be the worst of it.  For adults who actually engage in a fist fight, more serious consequences may ensue, and beyond hurt egos and wounded pride, there are laws against assaulting and battering.

But there are many other forms of “fighting”; of neighbors squabbling over overgrown trees which cross fence lines; of public debates and shaming; of aggressive trolls on the Internet.  Time was where once there were unspoken “rules” (like no hitting below the belt; no scratching or kicking, etc.), but with all-out “mixed martial arts” and other forms of unfettered fights, it seems that the art form (if there ever was one) is gone, and the only thing which matters is the outcome.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the “fight” is against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and fortunately for those who engage in this fight, there are rules by which all combatants must abide: The Statutes, Rules, Regulations and Case-Laws that circumscribe and dictate how the fight must be implemented and managed.

Consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and find out what the rules are governing Federal Disability Retirement Law before you are in the “thick of it”; for, you do not want to have been taken unawares by a sucker-punch before you know what to expect.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Employee Disability Retirement: A Sense of Worth

Wittgenstein argued that a language which is kept private — i.e., known only to one person and not shared with anyone else — is conceptually impossible.  Language by definition is a vehicle by which ideas, concepts, declarations and commands are conveyed, and to remain as an eternal soliloquy would undermine the very essence of what language is meant to be.

Similarly, does the concept of “worth” make any sense within a vacuum?  Can an individual stranded on an island have any capacity to understand such a concept — of a “sense of worth”?  As an ancillary issue, what is meant by “a sense of”, as opposed to X or Y having “worth” without the prefatory addendum of “a sense of”?  If a person were to say, “I have worth” — is it different from declaring, “I have a sense of worth?”  Or, is the attribution appropriate when a distinction is made between living entities as opposed to inanimate objects?

For example, if a person points to another person’s wrist and says, “I have a sense of worth about that watch you are wearing,” would such a statement seem odd?  Is “sense of “ attributable to a fuzziness when it comes to the object/subject of such attribution?

Ultimately, whether of worth or sense of worth, what becomes clear is that the conclusion of “worth” is derived from the interaction with others within a given community.  Neither “worth” nor “sense of worth” is a comprehensible concept in a vacuum, in isolation, or as a soliloquy.  For, in the end, both language and a sense of worth are derived not from an egoistical encounter, but by attributions from others.

For Federal and Postal employees whose sense of worth has diminished because of the silence of agencies and postal facilities as to one’s contributions to the workplace, it may be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement under FERS.  Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and consider regaining your sense of worth by moving beyond the Federal Agency or the Postal Service that no longer sees your sense of worth.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Retirement under FERS: Those Little Victories

Life offers few of them; thus do we turn to those little victories to make it all seem worthwhile.  Waterloo is almost always seen from the perspective of defeat, just as WWII is viewed from the perspective of the Allied victory, and history has always been seen as the story from the victor’s point of view except in those instances where, like Napoleon’s hubris, the single battle determined the course of world history.

Most wars are won or lost upon the incremental victories of smaller skirmishes; and so it is with life in general, where it is those little victories which make it all worthwhile.  And the victories themselves don’t need to be as a consequence of a “battle” or a “war”; it can be small things like: Making it through the day; having a sense of joy or contentment for an hour, or even a half-hour; of having spent five minutes with someone without provoking a fight; or even of having had a good night’s sleep.

Those little victories are often the ones which last the longest in memories short-lived and shorter still before the storms of life surge; and for Federal and 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 position, those little victories of making it through part of a work day without the debilitating impact of the medical condition shortening it further, is often viewed as one of those “little victories”.

At some point, however, when those little victories seem to be too few and far between, it may be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefit through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. For, when those little victories in life are nowhere to be found, it is time then to consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law in order to regain a sense of worth in a world which cares little for those little victories.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire