OPM Disability Retirement: In a Perfect World & Secondary Constructs

In a perfect world, one can propose a hypothetical construct where efficiency of service occurs without thought; where administrative processes are available without glitches or unforeseen hazards; and where the workplace environment is daily supportive and sensitive to the needs of injured and disabled workers.  But of course the corollary of such a construct is that, if indeed a perfect world existed, then much of the world which is established to combat, prevent and counteract the imperfect world would have no need to exist.

It is similar to the problem of those in philosophy who attempt to argue as follows:  How do we know that the world before us is not merely a dream? The answer:  The very reason why we can distinguish between dreams and reality, is presumably because we must first acknowledge the reality of the world; dreams are secondary; the mistake we make is when we make that which is primary into a secondary construct.

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Federal and Postal employee who is engaging the services of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management should be well aware that they are not entering a perfect world.  This is a world of administrative nightmares; of expected denials and delays; and further, a world which is neither sensitive to, nor recognizably aware of, the underlying human suffering which accompanies each and every Federal Disability Retirement packet.

Further, in preparing a Federal Disability Retirement case, it is important to keep the essential elements of a Federal Disability Retirement application in a streamlined, focused presentation; otherwise, if you present the argument as a dream-like world, you will get a return response in a nightmarish fashion.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement Benefits for Federal & Postal Employees: The Developing Medical Issue

There is a legitimate concern in preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application, that if an Applicant’s Statement (Standard Form 3112A both for FERS & CSRS employees) is not prepared properly, there may be some unforeseen repercussions down the road, including being barred from “adding” to the list of diagnosed medical conditions, to being found “disabled” based upon a minor, peripheral medical condition which may become “cured” within a short timeperiod.  This is true also of a “developing” medical condition — where symptoms abound, but the doctor is unsure of the specific diagnosis to ascribe to the patient.  That is why much of preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS is more of an art form than a strict application of “the law” .  Yes, it is important to understand and apply the law.  Yes, it is important to extract prior experiences and weave the essential elements, both of the law, of facts, of medical descriptions, etc., into a meaningful narrative in bridging the two essential fields of evidentiary substance:  the medical evidence and the type of job which is impacted.  But more than that, one must know how to interconnect all of the necessary elements — the law, the facts, the medical basis, the essential elements of one’s job — into a coherent whole.  As for any developing medical issues, the same methodology can be applied — in an artful way, such that an unnamed diagnosis will have been “covered” by a description of the symptoms.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire