OPM Disability Retirement: The Fallacy of Incremental Procrastination

It will be just another week; or perhaps a month; by the end of six weeks, it will all be resolved.  But the insidious nature of incrementalism is precisely in the cumulative loss from a retrospective viewpoint.  Time comes in ticking seconds; ticking seconds accumulate into a bundle of minutes; and bundles become stacked into hours, days, months — and years.

Waiting on a decision by the Department of Labor for OWCP benefits may be a perfectly acceptable route to take; but then, there are horror stories of delays in approving a simple MRI, leaving aside expectations for getting an approval for a needed surgery or other lesser medical procedure.

While hope may be in things sought for but yet unseen, it is the cumulative nature of time lost which, from a retrospective view, reveals the insidious fallacy of incremental procrastination.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, concurrently with filing for OWCP benefits is often a good idea, precisely because it requires a lengthy administrative process to undergo.  If both are approved, then one must opt for one or the other.  If only one is approved, then the other can be fought for while accepting the benefit of the approved one.

Time is a valuable commodity in any endeavor; for Federal and Postal Workers who seek Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, time management and the recognition of the fallacy of incremental procrastination is an important step in beginning the process.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

CSRS & FERS Medical Disability Retirement: Time as a Valued Commodity

At what juncture in the course of human lives the linear progression of “time” on a continuum of history became of prominence, philosophers, psychologists and historians may differ.  Certainly, animals are aware of the general importance of seasons; daylight and nightfall mark bifurcations of being alerted for purposes of seeking refuge against predators, as daytime dangers are quite different from night stalkers.

The measurement of time became ensconced with the invention of the timepiece.  When utilization of the watch, clock, digital devices, etc., established the cutting up of the world into unit measurements, it became a commodity of value because of its limited supply, and the increasing demand for greater productivity within each measured unit.  It is this ascription of “value” which one must contend with, in all aspects of modernity, in the daily living of one’s life.

For Federal and Postal employees who are seeking a quick fix — of one’s medical conditions, as well as securing the opportunity to obtain a Federal Disability Retirement benefit from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — complex considerations must always be weighed in an effort to “save time and money”.

If an OPM Disability Retirement application is not properly put together at the outset, it will waste valuable time in the long run, precisely because one will have to contend with a denial and a Request for Reconsideration, as well as a potential appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Filing a Federal Disability Retirement application can never be a “sure thing”, because it depends so much upon the evidence one must gather, in order to prove one’s case by a preponderance of the evidence.  But the saving of time will be achieved by putting the best case possible in every Federal Disability Retirement application.

The commodity of time is a recognition of its value in modern life.  It is a feature of linear human progression which simply cannot be ignored.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: OPM, Washington, D.C. & Snow

The three constitute a bad mixture: Washington, D.C. shuts down with barely an inch of snow, and the mere forecast of snow sends everyone to delirious panic; here, we have a forecast of 10 – 20 inches of snow, and panic has turned to pandemonium, and there is a calm quietude of resignation: the Office of Personnel Management, located in Washington, D.C., in a city with a forecast of a major snowstorm — result? A certainty of shutdown, a backlog of work, and further delays. For my clients (and those who are not my clients) who are awaiting the Office of Personnel Management to make a decision on a pending Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, further patience is needed. The combination of the three: OPM, Washington, D.C., and snow, simply do not mix. All I can do is watch the fluffy white stuff come down upon a deepening nightfall, and hope that spring will come early. Sigh.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: The Office of Personnel Management

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency which reviews, approves or denies all Federal Disability Retirement applications for those who are under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), is taking an extraordinary amount of time in reviewing disability retirement applications.  This is true across the board — whether at the initial stage of the process, or at the Reconsideration Stage of the process. 

While certain individual appeals to “personal emergencies” can sometimes move an application ahead of others, the simple fact is that OPM is understaffed and overworked.  Patience is simply the only remedy, and the OPM representative will eventually get to a particular case in the order that it was received.  Now, the question as to whether a particular case is properly prepared such that it will get approved at the first review, is a separate question.  That is why it is important to prepare a disability retirement application properly, and well, at the first stage.  Because OPM is taking a long time before it is even reviewed, it is important to try and make your best case at the first stage.  However, by “best” does not necessarily mean a volume of medical records.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire