In filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, it is important to note that the Office of Personnel Management will often argue that the mere fact that a person suffers from a medical condition is not in and of itself a basis for granting disability retirement benefits. So far as such a statement goes, the Office of Personnel Management is correct on the laws governing the eligibility criteria for Federal Disability Retirements (which is rare in and of itself). Having a medical condition is not a sufficient cause in granting a Disability Retirement benefit. As it is often argued in the world of philosophy, it is a necessary cause, but not a sufficient one. In other words, one must indeed suffer from a medical condition (it is thus a “necessary cause”); however, suffering from a medical condition is not sufficient in and of itself to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS (it is not a “sufficient cause”). One must, beyond having a necessary cause, prove that the medical condition is also the source and impact upon one’s inability to perform one’s job. Thus, to the limited extent of its truth, suffering from a medical condition is indeed insufficient to obtain an approval from the Office of Personnel Management; it is not “proof enough” in and of itself.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Disability Retirement, Et Cetera… 